London to New York by rocket: Ultra fast travel could be an unexpected byproduct of the new 'space race'. Photo / Supplied
London to New York by rocket: Ultra fast travel could be an unexpected byproduct of the new 'space race'. Photo / Supplied
Long-haul flights could be a thing of the past if the latest venture by aerospace company SpaceX takes flight.
The distance from London to New York could be shrunk to just 29 minutes. London to Auckland, an hour.
Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship makes these impossible journeys possible by travelling viaorbit, well above heights and speeds achievable by current passenger jets.
One could, literally, drop in on a meeting in New York and be back for supper on the same day.
Swiss financial analysts UBS predict the market for "point-to-point" travel will be worth US$19.7 billion($28.6 billion) by 2030.
Starship hopper test rocket: The model will be used for testing short launches and landings. Photo / Supplied
The report predicts the ability to bypass long distance air carriers will allow inter-orbital travel to 'cannibalise' the current market for international travel.
The company also predicts by 2030 the space tourism industry will be worth $3bn - of which SpaceX is poised to take a large chunk.
The company which is owned by Tesla and Paypal founder Elon Musk, originally envisaged the craft for contracting and supply missions for Nasa.
However, the impressive flight times achievable by travel through the upper atmosphere has launched a new venture for the rocket.
Not satisfied with upending the online banking and electric vehicle markets, Musk appears to have turned his disruptive attentions to air travel.
Other companies vying for a slice of the future space tourism market include Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin. However, intercontinental travel via rocket could be a new and lucrative offshoot of the business.
Space for development: Space tourism is expected to mushroom by 2030. Photo / Supplied
"Although some might view the potential to use space to service the long-haul travel market as science fiction, we think there is a large market," said Jarrod Castle, an analyst for UBS in the Daily Mail.
While space tourism has been slower to take off as than initially expected, the analysts predict that other parts of the travel industry will be jumping on the bandwagon to space.
The space industry which is currently worth around $580 billion is predicted to grow to $1170 billion by 2030 as hotels, catering and other parts of travel and tourism launch their own space ventures.
