The first Hyperloop One test was quietly conducted on May 12 in Nevada, with the co-founders calling the experiment the "Kitty Hawk" moment for their magnetic levitation technology. And it worked!
Results of the test — the 28-foot aerodynamic pod made of structural aluminum and carbon fiber traveled at 70 miles per hour down the test track— were termed a success, though nowhere near the 700 mph expected for transporting people distances in a vacuum tube environment, reported The Verge.
"That May 12 test may have been short — only 5.3 seconds, about half the duration of Orville's first flight — but we were only testing with 100 feet of the motor, co-founders Josh Giegel and Shervin Pishevar said in a blog on their website. "The longer the motor, the faster we can go."
"… Close to 200 Hyperloop One engineers, machinists, welders and fabricators collaborate to accomplish our Kitty Hawk moment. It was their determination that made the previously impossible possible. Getting here wasn’t easy. The road ahead won’t be any easier. But soon we will all be going farther and faster together," they added.
Giegel and Pishevar told CBS News they hope to put three functional hyperloop systems into service by 2021.
"It'll be the safest, cleanest, fastest form of transportation in the world," said Pishevar. "We need the support of people and governments around the world. You can't build hyperloops around the world without the support of governments."
"… The No. 1 concern is to make this idea a reality and this was a huge step in showing the world today on this show that this is real. We've done it. And now, it's ready to go to the next stage of connecting with the governments and actually building hyperloops around the world."
(With 200 Hyperloop people sitting on such exciting news for months, sounds like Pishevar could teach the White House a thing or two about plugging leaks, too.)
CBS News said Hyperloop already has a deal with Dubai to explore potential routes. Hyperloop One, though, is focused on making the technology viable for commercial use in the United States.