For the first time in the world, in a near-vacuum state
Successful aerodynamic test at 1,019 km/h
Overcoming the limitations caused by conventional air resistance


Recently, as competition to develop high-speed land transportation technology capable of speeds exceeding 1,000 km/h—faster than passenger aircraft and close to the speed of sound (1,220 km/h)—accelerates worldwide, the need to introduce high-speed transportation networks to prepare for the hyper-connected era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is increasing.

The Korea Railroad Research Institute (hereinafter KRRI) announced on the 11th that its independently developed miniature tube aerodynamic test device achieved a speed of 1,019 km/h at 0.001 atmospheres.

The Korea Railroad Research Institute recorded a speed of 714 km/h last September as it began full-scale aerodynamic driving tests in a near-vacuum state. In addition, by resolving issues such as vehicle driving difficulties caused by rapid acceleration friction in the acceleration section of this aerodynamic test device, it broke through a speed of over 1,000 km/h.

International aircraft traveling to the United States or Europe fly at a speed of 800 to 1000 km/h. However, with the success of this test, the driving characteristics of a hyperloop traveling faster than an airplane inside a near-vacuum tube were identified for the first time in the world, thereby securing the source technology for the basic design of a hyperloop.

The hyperloop aerodynamic test device was built on a 1/17 scale and consists of a hyperloop vehicle, a launch unit that drives the vehicle at ultra-high speed, a near-vacuum tube, and a braking unit.

Until now, the highest level of overseas air gun-type tube aerodynamic test devices was in Japan and China, with a speed of 600 km/h and a pressure of 1 atmosphere, while there were no tube test devices capable of operating at 0.001 atmospheres. However, this device, developed by the Korea Railroad Research Institute for the first time in the world, enables various driving tests under necessary conditions within a range of vehicle speeds of 100 to 1,000 km/h or more and a pressure inside the tube of 0.1 to 0.001 atmospheres or less.

One of the key technologies of the hyperloop, which travels at ultra-high speeds of over 1,000 km/h, is to minimize air resistance and run inside a tube that is close to a vacuum. This allows the speed limitations of existing high-speed railways caused by frictional and air resistance to be overcome.

In addition, the Korea Railroad Research Institute is developing core technologies for the hyperloop, including a near-vacuum ultra-high-speed aerodynamic test facility, superconducting electromagnets and propulsion systems—key components equivalent to the engine of a hyperloop vehicle—and ultra-high-speed driving stabilization systems.

In addition, we are planning hyperloop demonstration research projects to develop prototype vehicles for future hyperloop implementation and to verify performance using testbeds.

Na Hee-seung, President of the Korea Railroad Research Institute, stated, “Hyperloop is a new high-speed land transportation technology that accelerates regional integration, and through it, we will bring about a hyper-connected future society in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” adding, “We will do our best to develop Hyperloop technology, an eco-friendly future mobility solution for the Korean New Deal, through technological innovation that is differentiated from overseas.”