Elon Musk lately highlighted one of the notable improvements which have been developed by The Boring Firm, his tunneling startup. As per Musk, the Boring Co.’s applied sciences permit tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to begin digging with no prior web site preparation.
Earlier this month, The Boring Firm posted a picture of its Prufrock-3 TBM present process ultimate checks on “The Monster,” which was already tilted downwards. The Monster is a machine that’s able to launching and retrieving Prufrock, permitting The Boring Firm to begin excavating tunnels in a short time.

Try the TESLARATI Market!

Head on over for extra TESLARATI on TikTok!
As famous by Elon Musk in his current put up, the potential to begin digging tunnels with no prior web site preparation is a “actually large deal.” Whereas such improvements will certainly make the development of The Boring Firm’s transport tunnels faster, some customers on X speculated that the expertise may additionally be utilized by Musk’s firms for future Mars missions.
The brand new tunnel boring machine designed by @boringcompany engineers can instantly begin digging a tunnel wherever with no prior web site preparation (it is a actually large deal) https://t.co/08zbixZ6Lk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2024
Musk, in spite of everything, lately famous that he expects unscrewed Starship flights to be attainable throughout the subsequent two years. When requested concerning the payload of Starship’s uncrewed flights, Musk famous that the spacecraft can be transporting Tesla Cybertrucks and Optimus robots to begin.
Utilizing Prufrock machines to dig tunnels in Mars will surely be an fascinating thought, however SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Firm must work very onerous on the logistics of transporting a TBM to the crimson planet. Musk, in spite of everything, has beforehand famous that Starship may help payloads of 250 to 300 tons to orbit in expendable mode. The Boring Firm’s Purfrock-4 TBM weighs near 400 tons.
Prufrock-3 has been captured by “The Monster” inside Giga Texas! The Monster is then pushed to the following tunnel web site, the place it tilts downwards and launches Prufrock instantly into the bottom. Allows Prufrock to launch in < 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/oqtImRq1qF
— The Boring Firm (@boringcompany) June 12, 2024
The Boring Firm has very bold long-term targets for its Prufrock TBM collection. As per the tunneling starship, Prufrock is ultimately anticipated to realize a digging velocity higher than 1 mile per week. Up to now, The Boring Firm seems to be constructing Prufrock-4 and Prufrock-5, each of which is able to doubtless exceed the efficiency of Prufrock-3, which was utilized in Tesla’s Giga Texas’ tunnel.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with information suggestions. Simply ship a message to [email protected] to offer us a heads up.
