Where Hyperloop is failing, China is finding its place. So much so that it has just broken the speed record for transport models – of any kind – with its magnetic levitation system. 1,030 km/h for a newly installed powertrain.
Advance by the local media, the test system – in the form of a giant capsule – was capable of moving a ton of weight along a track prepared for it. In fact, despite being directly related to magnetic levitation technologies, the implementation of new push and pull technologies make this system the fastest to date.
More than the magnetic levitation or maglev trains that China has controlled for a long time. In 2021, it premiered a new line capable of reaching 600 km/h. Surpassing in this way, the one that Japan had already installed in 2015.
Hyperloop, overcome by magnetic levitation
It has long been the most plausible proposal for high-speed transport systems for the immediate future. Magnetic levitation, in all its versions, has managed to displace and gain ground over the ingenuity of Hyperloop. One that, for many years, was positioned as the greatest promise for passenger transport.
It has been 2020 when this transport model began to deflate, mainly due to lack of funds and technical problems, and in 2022 when it has finished digging its grave. The latter also with a normative addition: the regulation was never very much in favor of changing the rules of the game. And it is that the magnitude of the situation is to take it into account. A Hyperloop-like system requires the creation of a whole new infrastructure. The complete review of the entire transport system. In a world in economic, political and social crisis, it is not the best of ideas. In addition, the risks that they posed for security meant that many of these projects were designed only for merchandise. And that was not profitable.
With time frames that did not quite adjust to the reality of the market, many regions ended up abandoning this project. Las Vegas, a pioneer in the segment, was one of those that threw in the towel. Leaving, in this way, the door open to magnetic levitation.
Not only for transport, the war sector is important
Why does one work and the other is about to be abandoned? We could list many reasons, but the most important is that magnetic levitation transcends the world of high-speed passenger transport. The case of the speed record in China, the target is very clear: the war industry.
Despite the fact that local media Chinese have pointed to the clear improvement of the transport systems already installed, there are already several projects in the Chinese military business that see the benefits of super-speed magnetic levitation.
Specifically, for catapults in combat aircraft, already tested in various aircraft carrier projects in China. Also for railguns powered by electromagnetic force. A system already tested in 2018 by the country’s military forces.
Of course, there is also a utility in China’s recent interest: the space race. High-speed magnetic levitation could be an alternative system for launching rockets into space. With a much more modest fuel consumption, and with the objective of raising the level of the space race, the search for new ways of launching has become a necessity for the different countries involved. China, which has become a reference in a large part of present and future missions, does not rule out magnetic levitation for this sector.