Houston to Taipei in 2½ hours? Possible, if US-Taiwan spaceport plans take off

The United States and Taiwan are exploring the possibility of a groundbreaking spaceport partnership that could slash travel time between them from over half a day to only a couple of hours.

According to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which functions as the de facto US embassy in the absence of formal ties, the proposed collaboration will focus on suborbital flights – an emerging form of space transport in which a vehicle briefly exits the Earth’s atmosphere before re-entering and gliding to a runway landing.

“Possible spaceport cooperation is awaiting further evaluation and discussion,” the AIT said in a social media post on Monday.

“If suborbital flights were used, travel time between Taipei and Houston could be shortened to as little as 2½ hours. Houston’s Ellington Airport already has a legal spaceport licence.”

Suborbital flights are still in the experimental phase but could revolutionise long-distance travel in the coming decades. A direct commercial flight between Taipei and Houston now takes about 14½ hours.

Initially developed for research and military purposes, suborbital flights are now being explored for tourism and ultra-fast cargo delivery. Apart from the US, mainland China and Russia are also looking at developing commercial services.