Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) presented its first full-scale passenger Hyperloop capsule in the Spanish city of Puerto de Santa Maria on Tuesday. It was built in Spain by HyperloopTT’s partner Airtificial and is headed to Toulouse research and development facility for additional assembly and integration into the system, to be ready for passengers in 2019.

The capsule, “Quintero One”, is constructed almost completely out of HyperloopTT’s “Vibranium”, a specially made dual-layer composite material. The design for the capsule was created in collaboration with world-renowned transport design consultancy PriestmanGoode and won the Gold award at the 2017 London Design Awards. The Quintero One is 32 meters long and weighs five tonnes. The inner cabin length is 15 meter. It took around 5,000 hours to assemble and is made up out of 82 carbon fibre panels, 75,000 rivets, 72 sensors and 7,200 square meters of fibre.

New type of transportation vessel

“Today we have unveiled a new type of transportation vessel built with an industry high percentage of composite, which makes the Hyperloop capsule perhaps the safest transportation vehicle in the world,” said Airtificial Co-Founder and Chairman, Rafael Contreras.

“The creation of this capsule represents over a year-long journey of the best expertise in design, engineering, and the development of cutting-edge materials,” commented HyperloopTT co-founder and CEO Dirk Ahlborn. “In just five years we have solved and improved upon all of the technology needed for Hyperloop with our new levitation system, vacuum pumps, batteries, and smart composites. This capsule will be a part of one of the most efficient transportation systems ever made.”

Optimisation

“In 2019, this capsule will be fully optimised and ready for passengers,” said Bibop Gresta, chairman and co-founder of HyperloopTT. “Since we have taken major steps in solving government regulations with our safety certification guidelines and insurance frameworks, we are now closer than ever to bringing Hyperloop to the world.”

Recently, HyperloopTT became the world’s first company to be able to offer an insured commercial system. In collaboration with reinsurance company Munich Re, along with global certification and inspection company TÜV SÜD, governments and partners, HyperloopTT is creating the first regulatory guidelines and the necessary legal framework for Hyperloop systems.