Spirit Aerosystems announced a collaboration with Virgin Group for its Hyperloop project, in which the former will provide its manpower and supply chain.
Hyperloop is a new mode of transportation designed to run at speeds of 700mph, carrying both people and cargo, according to a news release about the partnership. It uses pods that are propelled across low-pressure tubes via electric propulsion. Virgin said the Hyperloop prototype can travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 43 minutes. Testing is also underway in Brussels, Dubai, India, and Saudi Arabia.
The partnership is represents Spirit’s diversification away from Boeing, from which it draws 50pc of its annual revenue. With Boeing’s 737 Max program grounded, supply orders have been cut short twice. Spirit is now $1.2bn deep in debt offerings and hopes to recover some ground Virgin’s $400mn funding for the Hyperloop program.