On October 20, General Designer of UST, Inc. Anatoli Unitsky participated in the GITEX forum, the largest exhibition in the field of innovations in Dubai. The National's journalists reported on the highlights of the speech.
Anatoli Unitsky's report focused on the General Planetary Vehicle (GPV) that allows to take harmful production into space. Here's how the engineer himself described his idea:
«We should go into space, but not for any reason. «...» All our problems on the Earth are created by industry. Electricity and chemical industries should be taken out of our biosphere. «...» The only place where we can do that is 300 km above the Earth».
The GPV is one of Anatoli Unitsky's first developments. It was it that gave birth to the string transport technology, which is now being tested at the UST Centre, Inc. in Sharjah. The information about the project is also presented at the Expo in Dubai.
The National's journalists noted that the string transport moves on a high-strength string-rail, which is secured above the ground with intermediate supports. That allows the vehicles to reach speeds of up to 150 km/h in the city and up to 500 km/h outside the city. Building such a system would be much cheaper than building an underground.
In comparison to the string transport, the GPV is a bigger project. Anatoli Unitsky remarks that its implementation will require considerable expense and the cooperation of many states. In the long term, however, the technology will make it easier to deliver goods to orbit and make space travel more affordable:
«Industry is always needed, so we need a system that allows easy movement between space and the Earth. «...» We cannot use rockets as they carry a maximum load of about 500 tons a year. «...» To take production into space, we should be able to transport there a million tons of material».
«Right now, sending an astronaut into space costs about $30 million. «...» If we build the GPV, a ticket to space will only cost $100».
You can get to know more details about Anatoli Unitsky's report in the article of The National.