Testing Soon for Starship’s Point-to-Point Flights

I do not see passenger traffic, simply because few of us can handle the launch acceleration or even want to.  somewhat like bungie cord jumping.  Or parachute jumping.  All a minority taste avoided by the rest of us.

Yet one hour cargo lifts do matter when it is to a landing pad anywhere.  commercialization will depend on a critical commercial need.  Same problem with airships.  There we are converging on the sweet spot by drone piloting and the movement of perisables point to point.  Cargo air has done much and it is faster, but an airship can become much cheaper once unmanned.

Again it is findig the sweet spot for daily launches and trips.

Testing Soon for Starship’s Point-to-Point Flights: The Future of Transportation

April 1, 2025 by Brian Wang

SpaceX and the Air Force Research Lab will start testing and developing the capability to fly anywhere

SpaceX’s Starship is poised to revolutionize global logistics and travel with breakthrough ultra-fast point-to-point flights on Earth. The US Air Force Research Lab and Space Force have awarded SpaceX contracts totaling approximately $200-$300 million for a “Global Logistics” program, aimed at rapidly delivering cargo and personnel using Starship. Capable of traveling up to 8,000 miles and landing propulsively, Starship will soon begin (maybe 2026) testing landings on Johnston Island, with up to 40 landings planned over four years. The cost of Starship flights is expected to drop significantly, potentially to under $10 million per flight, making global cargo transport economically viable with a 200-ton payload capacity at Mach 20. While initial military tests focus on cargo delivery, such as medical supplies and personnel transport in as little as 30 minutes, future commercial applications could enable passenger travel between continents in under an hour. Challenges include the need for specialized infrastructure like launch and catch towers for rapid refueling and relaunching, as well as the complexity of lifting off from remote locations without damaging the spacecraft or landing site. SpaceX anticipates Starship landings on Johnston Island by 2026, cargo missions by 2028-2029, and passenger flights by 2035, potentially transforming global logistics with same-day delivery and offering passengers a thrilling ride with G-forces and views of Earth’s curvature.

The Air Force will build two landing pads on Johnston Island near Hawaii.

The flights will likely start from California so that they are not flying over land.

There will be up to ten flights per year for four years for testing.

The SpaceX Starship problems where they have exploded the last two flights will get solved this year.

The Starship will need to have landing legs.

There will be no catch tower, because the goal is to land on relatively common concrete pads. Those would be hundreds of regular military bases around the world.

The Starship could then launch from any regular launch tower and then land near where they want. Drones could then fly out and deliver the cargo or urgent supplies where they are needed.

The exciting thing is that in a few years this could change our lives with hourly delivery of cargo anywhere in the world and a few years after that flying people anywhere in under an hour.