A recent US Air Force budget document reveals plans to harness SpaceX's Starship for delivering cargo anywhere on Earth in under an hour—offering unmatched military logistics speed no other nation can rival.
The fiscal year 2022 "justification book," comparing budget requests to prior years, details on page 305 a $47.9 million investment in a "cargo rocket" project—part of over $200 billion for the fiscal year starting October 1.
"The Department of the Air Force seeks to leverage today's multi-billion dollar commercial investment to develop the largest rockets ever seen, and with full reusability, to develop and test the capability to operate a commercial rocket aimed at transporting one hundred tons of AF cargo anywhere on Earth in less than an hour," the document states.
Though not named outright, the specs match SpaceX's Starship perfectly. Vice News reported last October the Pentagon's push with SpaceX for a "freighter of the future" to rush troops and gear worldwide in record time.
Starship stands alone as the only vehicle in development worldwide for this capability. It's designed for rapid point-to-point Earth transport of massive payloads. Prototypes are still testing, but SpaceX's pace is relentless.
Eric Berger of Ars Technica explains the Air Force won't fund Starship development directly but will back integration tech, like "new designs of riggers to quickly load/unload a rocket" and "rapid launch capabilities from unusual sites."
Approval from Congress is pending in months ahead. SpaceX already launches US military spy and comms satellites routinely.
