Tech startup Hyperloop One successfully conducted the first test of a supersonic propulsion system that will one day power its passenger-carrying Hyperloop tube transport system in California. Hyperloop One plans to have a fully functioning Hyperloop transport system by 2020.

The first live trial of Hyperloop One's propulsion technology went off without a hitch at its specially built three kilometer test track in the Nevada desert. A linear electric motor, a key component of the system, accelerated a 10 foot-long sled to 187km/h in 1.1 seconds for an acceleration of 2.5G The goal of the tests is to get the sled to reach a speed of 1,100 km/h before the end of 2016.

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The next step will see the company build a full-scale 3 km test track where pods levitated by electromagnets will be hurtled through low-friction tubes.

By the 2020s, Hyperloop One plans to propel passenger-filled pods through special tubes at such high speeds the 400 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles will be bridged in just 30 minutes.

The company isn't only developing a new technology, it's also pioneering a novel form of high tech transportation that could fill the void left by America's lack of a high-speed train system such as France's TGV.

"With hyperloop we are not only designing a futuristic station or a very fast train, we are dealing with an entirely novel technology with the potential to completely transform how our existing cities will grow and evolve, and how new cities will be conceived and constructed," said Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd.

He said his company will redefine the future of transportation, providing a more immediate, safe, efficient and sustainable high-speed backbone for the movement of people and things. Hyperloop One was formed to explore Elon Musk's Hyperloop concept.

Musk has since given up on the concept but three American firms, Hyperlop One included, are vying to realize their own versions of the tube-mounted high-speed system.

Another of these firms, Hyperloop Transportation Technology, which is led by NASA, said it wants to use magnetic levitation to run its version of Hyperloop.

TagsHyperloop One, linear electric motor, Hyperloop transport system, Elon Musk, Rob Lloyd