Mike Nudelman/Business Insider
The countdown to Elon Musk's Hyperloop pod competition has officially begun.
The Hyperloop, of course, is a futuristic transport system that carries passengers in capsules at speeds reaching more than 500 miles per hour.
Musk first proposed the idea back in 2013 and made his research public so others could pursue developing the concept. While Musk is not commercially pursuing the Hyperloop, his company SpaceX is sponsoring a contest to find the perfect Hyperloop pod design.
Teams that previously qualified will have the chance to shoot their pod down a one-mile test track at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
While SpaceX has not yet publicly revealed the exact dates of the contest, the company has set dates for testing at SpaceX headquarters.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the company is planning to let participating teams begin testing their pods on its one-mile test track on August 19. Participants will have until August 25, just one week, to try out the human-size pods before the actual contest.
The company is expected to share more details about the competition weekend with participating teams on or before July 18. But because testing will be going on between August 19 to August 25, it's likely the contest will be hosted the weekend after testing on Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th.
SpaceX told selected teams in February that it would give them six weeks notice before the competition, so this timing makes sense.
SpaceX declined to comment on specifics.
The final part of Musk's contest, which involves teams shooting their pods down a one-mile test track, was originally slated to take place in late June. However, the company adjusted the dates of the contest to take place sometime during late summer.
Now, though, it looks like everything is on track and we will soon get to see qualifying teams compete in the historic competition.
You can check out all the pod designs that made the final round of Musk's Hyperloop pod contest here.