Can Rockets work as flights?

By: The Arnav Writes Team
First Upload: 12th September 2023, 23:23
Last Update: 14th December 2025, 15:45

As we have in the recent years seen SpaceX make history once again, the human civilization is slowly moving forwards to the goal of "multi-planet species" . As the launch took place & we can see the rapid acceleration right from 0 KPH upto 20,000 KPH which is beyond what we can imagine.

I then thought of something, with machines which can travel almost 20 times the speed of an ordinary airplane, then why not we use it for our air travel where we currently sit anywhere from 30 Min to even 18 Hours between Singapore & New York. In this article, we will find out whether we can or not.

Onboard view of the Starship (Credit: SpaceX on X.com)

1.Features of World Rocket Travel

Credit: SpaceX on X.com

Travel to & from a Spaceport, not Airport: While our current travel requires us to travel to an airport where theres a lot of taxis, and trolleys and the commotion of rushing passengers finding about their flights, but in the case of rocket travel, it's somewhat similar, just that the spaceport would be much more far away from the city than how far airports are currently & maybe the spaceport would probably be much larger in size, as we've seen at the hometown of SpaceX; Starbase.
Unique Space Terminal Process: While we currently go through the process where we check in, pass immigration & then security, we might have a new travel process where there could be heavier security, or something special about baggage.

There is even a possiblity that we might have to come to the spaceport even earlier or much sooner based on how the process would be.

Baggage Policies: Speaking of baggage, we all get frustrated with airlines trying to monetize & scrutinize each & every gram of luggage in the bag and it becomes into a unpleasant trip if the baggage becomes a mess.

In the future, with the humongous size of rockets, we could possibly have much higher luggage allowances & potentially even carry more than just luggage, we could carry furniture & even vehicles, not only in cargo rockets, but as booked luggage in the passenger rockets.

Rocket cabin difference: In our traditional aviation, we have the narrow body aircrafts with a single row & 6 seats in a row while widebodies are even "wider" with 2 rows & more seats (depends).

But in the case of Rocket Travel, we might have a much larger cabin and could be extremely spacious, it could also be of multiple floors since rockets face vertically unlike the aircrafts who face horizontally.

Travel of Minutes, not Hours: As we all know, even the longest flight times of 16 to 18 Hours could actually be cut down to quite literally 16 to 18 Minutes. However before we get too excited, we also need to note that this could significantly vary, as rockets are not "standardized" unlike Aircrafts where there is an average speed & average duration for every route pair.

Currently the Falcon 9 holds a top speed of a little over 39,000 KPH. If we take take this speed as the average, it would mean the London-New York route would take a little under 10 Minutes & the worlds longest flight from Singapore to New York would take just around 25 Minutes.

ATC for World Rockets: With the world flying at well over Mach 40, regulation & management are absolutely essential to ensure efficiency & safety. This could possibly mean that a regulatory board could be set up just for the management of the " outer space" (not to be confused with airspace) which could have trained & experienced controllers leading the world quite literally.
Regulations & Policies for Rocket Travels: As mentioned about the regulatory board, somewhat akin to the IATA for Aviation, this board could look after spaceport construction, rocket manufacturing, the financial regulation in this industry, both at consumer & at business levels & so much more, all to ensure welfare of the society regarding usage of advanced travel technology.
Difference in Society: As the rockets open up new opportunities in Human Society as a whole, so much could happen, some examples include family or friends who are separated by several time zones meeting over for the weekend or a public holiday, that too without taking leave from school & office.

Another example would be businessmen who get a phone call to attend a meeting 10 time zones ahead, but he can meet & greet in person rather than joining an online meeting.

2.Pros of World Rocket Travel

Credit: SpaceX on X.com

Minutes of Travel time: This is the biggest merit of utilizing rockets for the global travel. With the technology of rockets still under development, no city pair in the world will take over 40 Minutes to complete, even if it's from South America to East Asia. This could change the world in ways we still cannot imagine to it's fullest extent.
Larger Capacity: As rockets dwarf humans & even aircrafts, it could mean that we could have several thousand passengers travelling on a single rocket, similar to cruise ships or/and could have luggage (cabin & check in) baggage allowances being much more than airlines, possibly even letting you ship a car on the largest of rockets.
Fewer airspace restrictions: As rockets entirely bypass airspace & go straight to outer space, this would mean that it would not be a subject to airspace restrictions which are set by governments. The biggest benefit of this is the saving of fuel & time, even if it's very small.

3.Cons of World Rocket Travel

Credit: SpaceX on X.com

Extremely High Costs: While it sounds like a dream come true for many, it also comes with the price tag which is equally heavy. Tickets of rocket travel could be around the cost of buying motorcycles or even cars. However as time passes, the technology will improve & will see a drop in prices, which exactly happened to aviation where aviation was initially expensive, now it is more affordable than ever.
Unwanted expectations: With the possibility of now reaching and coming back within the same day, some expectations could form. In workplaces where travel is required, employees or businessmen might be compelled to travel thousands of kilometers because their boss or client wants them to.

Similarly, relatives or friends would want to meet more often, even if separated by an ocean, they could ask to meet up over the weekend, even if you do not want to.

Environmental Impact: While this is certainly true, I would rather not push for this demerit since this will quickly change. As of right now, rockets do emit a large amount of emmisions, this can change if new technology is found, such as nuclear or hyrdo rockets.

4.The Future

Credit: SpaceX on X.com

With mankind now onto a stage of travelling more than ever at a faster speed, we can open up even more possibilities which will open more & so on.

We can imagine waking up in Sydney & being on time for work in Dallas, however we will have to wait until human beings reach this level.

We however should not give up since people with the likes of Elon Musk have proved the world that the sky is not the limit & we can do it at an affordable & efficient way.

Until then we can keep hopes in High Speed Rail who may provide travel of 500km in 2 Hours or Maglevs which may travel upwards of 800kms in 2 Hours.

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