Delhi to San Francisco in 40 minutes? Elon Musk's SpaceX may make it possible after Trump's victory

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s SpaceX aims to change the way we travel, proposing to transport passengers between major cities worldwide in less than an hour. At the heart of its ambitious vision lies the Starship, a towering 395-foot spacecraft crafted from stainless steel.

Billionaire Musk, who is set to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, said that his ambitious project of ‘Earth to Earth’ space travel on his Starship rocket is now possible after Donald Trump’s re-election.

First envisioned by SpaceX nearly a decade ago, up to 1,000 passengers would file into Starship – the most powerful rocket on Earth – and blast into orbit, according to a report by Daily Mail. However, instead of zooming into the dark abyss of space, Starship would fly 'parallel' with Earth as it traverses the planet's surface, bound for another city, the report added.

Starship could take people from Los Angeles to Toronto in 24 minutes, London to New York in 29 minutes, Delhi to San Francisco in 30 minutes and New York to Shanghai in 39 minutes.

Passengers, however, would face G-forces during liftoff and landing. Moreover, low gravity conditions mid-flight would mean they'd have to keep seatbelts buckled.

Social media attention around SpaceX's plan intensified when user @ajtourville shared a promotional video of the Earth-to-Earth concept on X (formerly Twitter). The post speculated that the project could receive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval during a potential second Trump administration.

Under Trump's FAA, @SpaceX could even get Starship Earth to Earth approved in a few years Taking people from any city to any other city on Earth in under one hour. pic.twitter.com/vgYAzg8oaB

ALEX (@ajtourville) November 6, 2024

“Under Trump's FAA, @SpaceX could even get Starship Earth to Earth approved in a few years — Taking people from any city to any other city on Earth in under one hour,” the X user wrote. To this, Musk replied, “This is now possible.”