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Monday 2 october 2017 TECHNOLOGY
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SpaceX: Rocket for moon, Mars and NY-to-Shanghai in 39 mins

By MARCIA DUNN mission would orbit the red
AP Aerospace Writer planet, rather than land.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Musk intends to finance his
(AP) — SpaceX chief Elon $10 billion Mars endeavor
Musk’s elaborate plan for by using a rocket that’s
a mega-rocket to carry as- smaller than the one out-
tronauts to Mars may have lined last year. Fewer en-
some down-to-Earth appli- gines would be needed:
cations. 31 versus the originally en-
At a conference in Austra- visioned 42. Its lift capabil-
lia this weejkend, Musk said ity would be 150 tons, more
if you build a ship capable than NASA’s old moon
of going to the moon and rocket, the Saturn V.
Mars, why not use it for He wants one type of
high-speed transport here booster and spaceship that
at home. He proposes us- can replace the compa-
ing his still-in-the-design ny’s current Falcon 9 rock-
phase rocket for launching et, the soon-to-fly Falcon
passengers from New York Heavy rocket designed
to Shanghai in 39 minutes This artist’s rendering made available by Elon Musk on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 shows SpaceX’s new for heavier satellites, and
flat. mega-rocket design at the International Space Station. With the 350-foot-tall spacecraft, Musk the Dragon capsule pres-
Los Angeles to New York, announced that his private space company aims to launch two cargo missions to Mars in 2022. ently used to deliver cargo
or Los Angeles to Honolulu (SpaceX via AP) to the International Space
in 25 minutes. London to For the approximately six- more details are needed “It’s great to see the pri- Station, and, as soon as
Dubai in 29 minutes. month, one-way trips to for life-support systems, vate sector lead in this way, next year, station astro-
“Most of what people con- Mars, the SpaceX ships “Kudos to Elon and SpaceX and I hope we see more of nauts.That way SpaceX
sider to be long-distance would have 40 cabins, for keeping the focus on it.”NASA is charting its own can put all its resources to-
trips would be completed ideally with two to three humans to Mars!”Former path to what it calls the ward this new system, Musk
in less than half an hour,” people per cabin for a NASA chief technologist “Deep Space Gateway,” said. Revenue from launch-
Musk said to applause and grand total of about 100 Bobby Braun, now dean of beginning with expeditions ing satellites, and sending
cheers at the International passengers. Musk foresees the college of engineering in the vicinity of the moon supplies and crews to the
Astronautical Congress in this Mars city growing, and and applied science at the in the 2020s and eventually space station, could pay
Adelaide.A seat should over time “making it really University of Colorado at culminating at Mars. The for the new rocket, he said.
cost about the same as a a nice place to be.” Boulder, also sees Musk’s space agency has handed Musk said the same space-
full-fare economy plane Scott Hubbard, an ad- plan as a step in the right much of its Earth-orbiting ship for moon and Mars
ticket, he noted later via junct professor at Stanford direction, building on tech- work to private industry, trips — long and cylindrical
Instagram. University and a former di- nologies SpaceX already including SpaceX, Orbital with small shuttle-like wings
Friday’s address was a fol- rector of NASA’s Ames Re- has demonstrated, like re- ATK and Boeing.Earlier Fri- — could fly to the space
low-up to one he gave to search Center, calls it “a usable rockets.“While the day in Adelaide, Lockheed station. He said the mega-
the group last September bold transportation archi- timeline and capabilities Martin presented its vision rocket could be used to es-
in Mexico, where he un- tecture with aspirational are certainly ambitious, I’m for a “Mars Base Camp” in tablish a lunar settlement,
veiled his grand scheme dates.” A demonstration bullish on U.S industry’s abil- partnership with NASA. As- with spaceships being re-
for colonizing Mars. He of some sort in the 2020s ity to carry out challenging tronauts could be on their fueled in Earth orbit versus
described a slightly will add to its credibility, he and far-reaching goals,” way in about a decade, creating a vital fuel depot
scaled-down 348-foot-tall said in an email. And while Braun wrote in an email. the company said. This first at Mars. q
announced that the pri- China sets target for electric car quota, delays rollout
(106-meter-tall) rocket and
vate space company aims By JOE McDONALD Communist leaders see Industry and Information fleet of EV offerings on sale
to launch two cargo mis- Associated Press them as a way to clean up Technology. The minimum until closer to 2019-2020,”
sions to Mars in 2022. BEIJING (AP) — China has China’s smog-choked cit- rises to 12 percent in 2020 said Bernstein analysts in a
“That’s not a typo,” he stepped up pressure on ies as well as a promising and the ministry will an- report.
said, pausing, as charts ap- automakers to accelerate industry. nounce annual targets af- Beijing’s support for elec-
peared on a large screen. development of electric Electrics will have to make ter that later. tric vehicle sales has made
“Although it is aspiration- cars by raising the first-year up at least 10 percent of The launch was postponed China the biggest market
al.” target for a planned system each automaker’s output, from next year until 2019 for the technology.
Two more cargo missions of production quotas but up from 8 percent in an following warnings few au- Sales of electrics and gas-
would follow in 2024 to delayed its rollout from next earlier proposal, and those tomakers can get enough oline-electric hybrids rose
provide more construction year until 2019. that fail to meet their tar- vehicles to market so early. 50 percent over 2015 to
materials, along with two China has the world’s most gets can buy credits from “The final rule reflects a tri- 336,000 vehicles, or 40 per-
crewed flights. The window aggressive government competitors that do, under umph for pragmatism over cent of global demand.
for launching to Mars oc- plans to promote electric regulations released late dogma,” because few U.S. sales totaled 159,620.
curs every two years. cars. Thursday by the Ministry of brands “will have a serious q