There was a large thread about this yesterday, speculating about what it is:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5796880" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5796880</a><p>I think a "launch loop" is consistent with all of Musk's statements (and nothing else is):<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5797212" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5797212</a>
The only realistic thing would be a ground effect vehicle. Pushing the envelope on that idea would be using a magnetohydrodynamic ionization shield around the vehicle for propulsion, but it would require putting a submarine's nuclear reactor inside. Feasible for a billionaire. But everybody's brains around that thing would fry...
<a href="http://www.savoir-sans-frontieres.com/download/eng/aspirisouffle.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.savoir-sans-frontieres.com/download/eng/aspirisou...</a>
There are far more significant problems to solve in transportation than this. The most significant of which, in my opinion, is working to move container transportation onto next generation land-based alternatives.<p>The fleet of container ships traversing the globe is huge. If I remember correctly it is in the hundreds of thousands of ships. These ships burn the most horrible fuel known to mankind: bunker fuel. This stuff pollutes like nothing else. The pollution created by these ships nearly dwarfs that produced by all automobiles in the world combined. On top of that, the ships also contribute to species pollution by accidentally relocating marine fauna through their ballast tanks. It is a horribly inefficient mode of transport screaming for a land-based solution.<p>This is where high speed rail could make a huge difference in the US. Huge cargo only trains reaching average speeds in the 200 to 300 mph range could move all cargo from coast to coast and keep tens of thousands of container ships from going through the Panama Canal. Power could come from nuclear, wind and solar. Beyond that, such a project could also be leveraged to install the massive power distribution network needed to support millions of electric cars in the future.