The airline industry is a hard nut to crack, as history proved. Stay tuned to find out if Elon Musk's BFR could be a revolutionary innovation in the airline industry! Subscribe to Futurity.

Elon Musk wants to solve the issue of time. Because let’s face it, commercial flights are no-doubt some of the longest journeys in the world.

And let’s not forget the jet-lag and altitude sickness we experience afterwards. SpaceX is currently building the first commercial airline rocket that will carry passengers at supersonic speed. For the past 4 years, the ingenious entrepreneur—who by the way is still laying plans for his magnificent vision of creating the first human colony on Mars—has been developing a mega rocket that could travel to the moon, Mars, and into the Earth’s orbit at ground breaking speeds.

The new rocket is called the “BFR”; an acronym for the Biggest Falcon Rocket on the planet. Although Musk recently changed the name to “Starship” but let’s be honest, we all love BFR, so let’s roll with that!

And according to estimates, it will cost his company more than $5 billion to develop. Elon believes that once the rocket is complete, it should be capable of travelling anywhere on the Earth in just under one hour.

Which simply means that you could be in Dubai attending a company soiree, and the next thing you know, you’re back home just in time for game night with the family thanks to Elon Musk airlines!

According to Musk’s designs, the “BFR” will stand about 122 meters tall—roughly twice the height of the “Falcon 9”—and could be equipped with up to six times the number of engines the “Falcon 9” has.

How fast will the “BFR” go?

Well, according to reports, the rocket should have a top speed of about 17,000mph. And the greatest thing about the “BFR”? A cost per seat on the airline will be about the same as flying economy!

Musk has admitted that he needs to overcome quite a number of technical hurdles. Some that are quite similar to those that his aerospace company, SpaceX, still battles with today.

For starters, there’s cost. Going fast is easy; but going fast with a profitable airline is no walk in the park. Just look back at the numerous airlines that have gone bankrupt due to the volatile market.

Another difficult challenge will be perfecting the kind of supersonic retropulsion required to land such a rocket. It’s easy for SpaceX to land its Falcon rockets because the company has barges in the Atlantic ocean, as well as a landing area situated near Cape Canaveral.

But can you imagine launching and recovering a gigantic rocket twice the size of a Falcon 9 near a densely populated city?

Not every city has the kind of real estate to accommodate such massive launching and landing sites, which are critical in actualizing Elon’s vision. Also, these landing and launch sites shouldn’t be too far from the city, as this will cause unrest from eccentric business travellers who won’t be too amused with the wait time.

Another issue that Musk faces is the conservative nature of the airline industry. This industry is naturally obsessed with safety. And it might take airline executives, passengers, and even cabin crew members some time before they can adapt to the new features and experience of hypersonic travel.

But if Musk does succeed in creating a reliable hypersonic aircraft—of which I’m confident he will—then the allure of a profitable business that operates on low fares will not remain a niche venture. Elon’s rivals will surely gear up to match his services!

Yet another question springs to mind...what about luggage allowance for passengers? Well, the “BFR” would have to be designed in such a way that despite the inclusion of luggage, the rocket’s construction still minimizes the effects of gravitational pull.

Well, one thing’s for sure as a passenger flying with Musk airlines; you won’t have to worry about the in-flight entertainment. Because there simply won’t be enough time to watch a boring and mediocre Hollywood film!

But SpaceX isn’t the only aerospace company looking to venture into faster commercial air travel.

NASA has been working behind the scenes with Lockheed Martin's secretive Skunk Works division on a supersonic jet that aims to reduce sonic boom so that the aircrafts can easily fly over crowded cities.

And the United States military has been experimenting with hypersonic weapons that are believed to fly over five times the speed of sound. Such innovative propulsion technology should find application in the commercial airline industry.

Once the developmental process of SpaceX’s “BFR” is complete, the company has decided to assign Japanese billionaire and entrepreneur, Yusaka Maezawa, the honor of being the first private citizen to take a flight around the moon in the “BFR”.

This 240,000-mile journey is scheduled to take place some time in early 2023.

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