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The Changing Face Of Cargo Transportation

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First came ships; next came planes.

For centuries, cargo was moved around the world via ship. In the middle of the last century, as air travel took off, more cargo was moved on planes. This allowed for the speeding up of products going around the world.

Of late, we are seeing a lot of news out of the "space race". Private enterprise is stepping up into this realm in a big way. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a host of start ups are entering the race, raising hundreds of billions of dollars.

This is obviously leading to a great deal of technological advancement. Naturally, this brings about threats to existing industries as progress is made.

While many look at the focus upon space as being isolated to "out there", we are seeing the potential where industries on Earth are drastically affected.

One such industry is the cargo transportation business. Companies now put their products on planes for quick transport. However, what if there was a faster way that charged less money? This would be a serious hit to the airlines cargo business.

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This is exactly what SpaceX (and Elon Musk) is looking to do. The company is now looking to build larger rockets which can power larger payloads to the Moon and Mars.

One of the side benefits is that they will also be used for point-to-point travel on Earth.

This could really change how we move things, including people, around this planet.

Point-to-point space-based transportation is not a new concept, and others beyond SpaceX are working on developing ways to make this happen. The idea is that by traveling at the edge of, or beyond Earth’s atmosphere, you can greatly reduce the fuel cost and duration of flight — traveling the distance between New York and Paris, for instance, in under an hour. In fact, SpaceX claimed during a presentation in 2017 that point-to-point transportation with its Starship could reach any city on Earth from any other city in less than an hour.

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It would be a major blow to the airline industry. At present, it moves more than $6 trillion worth of cargo around the world. Obviously, if rockets can reach the other side of the planet in less than an hour for a fraction of the fuel cost, it would make the airlines non-competitive.

Cargo is not the only thing taken from the airlines. If it is cost effective to move cargo then the same holds true for people. Long distance air travel could migrate away from the airlines to the rocket companies.

Who would opt for an 10 hour plane ride when a rocket can get there in under an hour?

Even if there was a surcharge compared to the airlines, most would probably pay it to gain the time.

We also could see major changes in the shipment of food and other time sensitive materials. Imagine the ability to send organs to the other side of the world in time for transplant.

The technological roll out from space research can reach far and wide. Here is just another example of how space businesses can affect major industries here on Earth.

Perhaps in the 2030s, we will see our cargo moving around the planet in a different way. Rockets could be a bigger part of our lives.


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