The Air Force will soon test the shipping cargo via SpaceX Rockets

The US Air Force announced on Monday that it intended to build two landing buffers on an island far from the Pacific. He wants to land the rockets in the context of a test of the Vanguard Rocket Rocket program, which involves shooting rockets in the space loaded with supplies to ship stuff on the planet faster.

The Rocket Cargo Vanguard field is that it could allow the American army to deliver anything anywhere On the planet in “90 minutes or less”. How? By turning a rocket (probably a reusable spacex) loaded with supplies in space, then bringing them back to earth. The army is good enough to pull rockets, both in space and in the air, it is less good to make sure that these things land safely.

Enter Johnston Island, a small land mass in the American territory not formed in a company which is around 700 naval miles from the cost of Hawaii. As first remarks by Stars and stripesThe Air Force downloaded an opinion on the Federal register On March 3, this reported its intention to build test platforms on the island.

However, it will take some time before you can start building. “Johnston Atoll includes the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and is located in the national monument of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine,” said the opinion. For this reason, the Pentagon will have to study the effects that land massive rockets on the island can have on “essential fish housing, migratory birds and other protected species”.

The Air Force thinks that all these studies show that the construction of two landing cobblestones on the island so that it can try landing rockets, there will be “no significant impact” on the island, but it plans to render its public reports in early April. Once these reports are online, this will allow a period of 30 days for the public to comment on the proposal.

The army has been working on the cargo shooting in space for at least half a decade. Now, retired general Stephen R. Lyons delivered a speech at a national defense transport meeting in 2020 where he teased a future for shipping rockets. “Remember to move the equivalent of a C-17 payload anywhere in the world in less than an hour,” said Lyons. “Think of this speed associated with the movement of the transport of goods and people. There is a lot of potential here and I am really enthusiastic by the team working with SpaceX on an opportunity, perhaps even, from the age of 21, to carry out proof in principle.”

A soldier is as good as his logistics. One of the reasons why the American army was so dominant in the 20th and 21st century is its ability to move humans, supplies and equipment anywhere on the planet. One of the most emblematic images of world war against terrorism is a Burger King supply truck Landing a C-17 in Afghanistan in 2004. Imagine the same thing that happens, in 90 minutes or less, via Elon Musk rockets.

One of the problems with the rocket shipping plan is the cost. Power and steal a C-17 loaded with armament humve in the Middle East is expensive, yes, but it is even cheaper than launching a rocket in space. One of SpaceX’s objectives is to reduce the cost of launches by reusing the rocket parts, but only one launch should still cost tens of millions of dollars.

Despite costs, the dream of shooting firearms, food and space in space persists. “Once carried out, Rocket Cargo will fundamentally modify the rapid logistics landscape, connecting the equipment to joint fighters in a fraction of time it takes today,” said John Raymond, a retirement general of the spatial force, in a press release on the program in 2021. “In the event of a conflict or a humanitarian crisis, the spatial force will be able to provide our national leadership with an independent option To achieve strategic space objectives. “