Аннотация: A fresh news from Hyperloop. A note on the history of the development of technique.
A fresh news from Hyperloop. A note on the history of the development of technique.
For a history of the development of technology, it is very useful to observe the movement of an idea over a long period of time.
Hyperloop is an interesting example of the movement of a technical idea.
Plans for a version of the vacuum train called the Hyperloop emerged from a conversation between Elon Musk and Iranian-American Silicon Valley investor Shervin Pishevar in January 2012.
Musk said he was too busy running SpaceX and Tesla.
On August 12, 2013, Musk released the Hyperloop Alpha white paper to much attention and enthusiasm. In the following months, Pishevar founded Hyperloop Technologies, which would later be renamed Hyperloop One.
Hyperloop One has raised over $150 million in funding.
On October 12, 2017, Hyperloop One and Virgin Group announced a strategic investment partnership that brought Richard Branson to the board of directors.
In June 2020, the company rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop, changing its logo and launching a new website.
The Hyperloop project was especially noticeable in Russia.
Today, in 2022, this interest is fueled by oil spills in a number of ports, difficulties with Northern Delivery in the winter of 2021-2022, and efforts to develop the Far East.
According to press reports, at one of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), President Vladimir Putin held a short meeting with Hyperloop One co-founder and chairman of the board of directors Shervin Pishevar, during which he promised support for a high-speed cargo transportation project. (But since this project is an exclusively private initiative, tax breaks or state funding should not be expected, then press secretary Dmitry Peskov clarified). (In addition, the media report: "it is known about the participation of Viktor Vekselberg's Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum in the financing of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies"). [unofficial translation]
The Summa group ("Сумма"), whose chairman of the board of directors is Ziyavudin Magomedov, cooperates (cooperated?) with Hyperloop One. His venture capital fund Caspian VC Partners participated in several rounds of investments in Hyperloop. After investing about $90 million, Ziyavudin Magomedov joined the board of directors of Hyperloop One in October 2016.
On the sidelines of SPIEF 2016, Ziyavudin Magomedov and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin signed a memorandum of cooperation with Shervin Pishevar, which involves the development of a preliminary feasibility study for the construction of a superhighway in the capital.
In June 2016, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), headed by Kirill Dmitriev, announced investments in Hyperloop One. [unofficial translation] (http://www.pult.gudok.ru/archive/detail.php?ID=1367048)
The presentation of the project for the construction of a Hyperloop branch in the Far East took place as part of the Eastern Economic Forum 2016.
On January 11, 2017, the Russian Ministry of Transport created a working group to develop Hyperloop technology in the country's transport complex.
On March 31, 2018, Magomedov was arrested. His detention was extended until November 2018. As of March 2021, he was still in prison.
By themselves, these legal events can neither confirm nor disprove the technical idea of Hyperloop.
As for presentations at international forums and the creation of a working group of the Ministry of Transport, the absence of references (available to the wide public) about the opinions of the Academy of Sciences and the Far Eastern University attracts attention.
As the Kommersant newspaper (КоммерсантЪ) reported on February 22, 2022, citing the Financial Times (FT), "Virgin Hyperloop has cut almost half of its staff (111 people) and decided to shift from passenger to freight transportation. (...) ... now the company has decided to "change direction". (...)
Previously, Virgin Hyperloop has already raised about $400 million in venture capital investments, having received the support of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, Dubai-based DP World and Elon Musk. She has already conducted the first successful tests of such capsules with passengers. Currently, DP World, which owns 76% of Virgin Hyperloop, is already working on a system for transporting goods using vacuum pipelines. [unofficial translation] (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5229135?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop)
If the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) really invested in Hyperloop One, then the opinion of the RDIF on the current situation and the prospects of the Hyperloop idea would be interesting.
The implementation of the Hyperloop idea is a process that is interesting for a history of science and technology.
February 23, 2022 02:44
Translation from Russian into English: February 23, 2022 03:24.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Свежие новости от Hyperloop. Заметка об истории развития техники".
{ 2819. Свежие новости от Hyperloop. Заметка об истории развития техники.
MMDCCLXXXIX. A fresh news from Hyperloop. A note on the history of the development of technique. }