Elon Musk's Hyperloop Now Has A Company: Ambitious Plans for 2015 Demo

When Elon Musk unveiled his revolutionary "Hyperloop" 800 mph, cross-state transit idea in a 50-some page white paper in mid-August, he quickly passed it off as an "open source" project for other designers to make a reality. This hands-off decision earned derision from some, like the Daily Show's Jon Oliver.

Hyperloop: The Company

But it looks like the Hyperloop hasn't met its end as a pie-in-the-sky idea yet, as a new company is looking to create a working version of the futuristic transportation system. According to NBC News, a company created as "Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc." announced on Thursday its plans to create the Hyperloop by 2015.

The company has even created a (rough draft of a) project outline and timeline for the next two years of development. The company, catalyzed by the crowdfunding site JumpStartFund, is going to be led by former SpaceX director of mission operations Marco Villa and the former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Patricia Galloway. According to NBC, more than 160 people have applied for a position at the company, which will be compensated by stock options.

"Marco and I are trying to determine who the best leads are for each of the various aspects of the Hyperloop," said Galloway to ABC News. "How we're doing it is revolutionary for a megaproject like this." Different bits of the Hyperloop development are being farmed out to various companies and programs, including a UCLA architecture program, an advanced materials company, and an engineering simulation software developer.

The open-source, collaborative spirit is strong for the Hyperloop project, at least at this early stage. "No one is getting paid right now," said Villa to ABC. ""But everyone who participates with a specific aspect gets stock options in exchange for their contributions. In my opinion, people prefer to work on things that matter instead of things that get them high pay."

What is a Hyperloop?

The Hyperloop, hinted at by visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk for a couple of years and finally unveiled in the summer, is a proposed system of transportation, which Musk says will challenge the status quo. That status quo is essentially the estimated $70 billion high-speed rail system currently in development for transportation between Los Angeles and San Francisco - a system which Musk describes as "a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world," in his Hyperloop white paper.

The Hyperloop, in stark contrast, will travel four times as fast - up to 800 mph at its top speed - and cost just a fraction of the high-speed rail system. It will even generate more power than it uses, if Musk's plans turn out to be accurate.

Using huge pneumatically sealed tubes and elevating transport capsules on air, Musk's Hyperloop looks to use low friction, low drag air pressure to accelerate the capsules to ridiculous speeds, all while solar panels resting on top of the tubes provide power to the whole system. If feasible and safe - and these are still big "ifs" at the moment that the new Hyperloop company will have to work out - the Hyperloop could revolutionize terrestrial transportation.