--- title: "SpaceX Dismantles Hyperloop Prototype to Build a New Parking Lot" description: "SpaceX has dismantled its one-mile-long Hyperloop test tunnel at its factory in Hawthorne, California — only to make way for more parking spots." date: "2022-11-05" modified: "2022-11-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-dismantles-hyperloop-prototype-parking-lot" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Hyperloop" - "Mass Transit" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "hyperloop" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Dismantles Hyperloop Prototype to Build a New Parking Lot ![SpaceX has dismantled its one-mile-long Hyperloop test tunnel at its factory in Hawthorne, California — only to make way for more parking spots.]() *\Image: Kate Allen/Toronto Star via Getty Images\* ## Hyper Oops *Bloomberg* [reports that]() SpaceX has dismantled its roughly mile-long Hyperloop test tunnel at its factory in Hawthorne, California — to make way, in an ironic rebuke of the hypothetical mass transit tech, for more parking spots. It's a sad and symbolic move by the Elon Musk-led company, underlining how the idea of a vacuum-powered, ultra-fast transportation system has clearly been relegated to the backburner. ## Mole Men That's despite Musk promising that his tunnel-digging venture The Boring Company "will attempt to build a working Hyperloop" in an [April tweet](). "From a known physics standpoint, this is the fastest possible way of getting from one city center to another for distances less than \[around\] 2000 miles," he wrote. In 2022, though, the Boring Company has yet to come even close to realizing that dream. It did [open a tunnel]() at the Las Vegas Convention Center, ferrying attendees inside individual Tesla vehicles. But that's still a [far cry]() from the concept of a Hyperloop, which aims to blast passengers through a vacuum tube at [up to 760 mph](). ## Hyper Memorial Other companies have also struggled to turn the idea into a reality. Virgin Hyperloop, for instance, hasn't made much progress in building out a full-scale test track, but did successfully manage to [launch the first passengers]() through a test tunnel back in 2020. Before it was demolished, SpaceX's test tunnel was meant to be a testing ground for the idea from 2017 onwards, [allowing students to compete]() on building Hyperloop pods. "We had a sentimental moment knowing this was going to be taken down," Erik Wright, CEO of Precision Construction Services, which built the tunnel for SpaceX, told *Bloomberg*. "Like a memorial service." **READ MORE:** [Musk’s SpaceX Dismantles Hyperloop Prototype, Puts Up a Parking Lot]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on Hyperloop:** *[China Successfully Tests Hyperloop-Like Train Inside a Vacuum Tube]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()