In 2013, Elon Musk published a white paper on his idea of a new method of high-speed ground transportation, called Hyperloop. SpaceX, founded by Musk, announced the Hyperloop Pod competition in 2015 to encourage students to develop a functional prototype. The competition was first held in 2017 and has been held each year subsequently. The competition has been judged solely on one criterion: the pods reach maximum speed with successful deceleration. The ultimate goal of this competition and the Hyperloop is to eventually achieve a new means of transportation via a tube system, where people will be propelled at airplane-comparable speeds between cities, at a fraction of current cost, and in an environmentally safe and economical manner.
The technical hurdles are immense with this competition. There are ample things to consider since the tube contains a vacuum to reduce air resistance for the pods. Many of the test pods are currently self-propelled, and this year, they will have to go much farther than in previous years – 6.2 miles instead of 1 km.