12 Years Ago, Elon Musk Interview About Rockets!!!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Elon Musk Thinking
Episode: 12 Years Ago, Elon Musk Interview About Rockets!!!
Host: Astronaut Man
Release Date: November 13, 2024

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of "Elon Musk Thinking," host Astronaut Man delves deep into an exclusive interview with Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur behind PayPal, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and SpaceX. The conversation focuses on Musk's insights into rocket technology, SpaceX's advancements, future space missions, and his broader vision for humanity's journey into space.

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Recent Achievements and Confidence

Key Topics:

• SpaceX's historic achievement with the Dragon spacecraft
• Musk's perspective on technological progression

Discussion: Elon Musk reflects on SpaceX making history by sending the Dragon spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS), marking a significant milestone for private spaceflight.

Notable Quote:

"I feel reasonably good about things, but I don't want to be complacent. And we definitely want to keep the pace of technology progression as rapid as possible."
— Elon Musk [02:07]

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Anomalies in Rocket Flights

Key Topics:

• Addressing technical anomalies in SpaceX flights
• Impact on human-rated Dragon development

Discussion: Musk discusses minor issues encountered during the October carbon cargo flight, clarifying that these were not considered anomalies from regulatory perspectives and assured listeners that there is no impact on the development of human-rated Dragon spacecraft.

Notable Quotes:

"No, we actually file flight plans. When we file a flight plan, we file a flight plan with zero, one and two engines."
— Elon Musk [02:52]

"It wasn't even considered from the Air Force and FAA standpoint, it wasn't actually considered an anomaly because it was one of the prescribed flight plans."
— Elon Musk [03:02]

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Falcon Heavy and the Rocket Market

Key Topics:

• Development and market demand for Falcon Heavy
• Trends in satellite sizes

Discussion: Musk elaborates on the Falcon Heavy rocket, discussing its readiness and potential market. He addresses the dichotomy in satellite sizes, noting that while some companies focus on smaller satellites, there remains a robust demand for larger geosynchronous satellites.

Notable Quote:

"I think they're getting smaller and bigger. On the small side, you got companies like [name withheld]... And on the big side, you've got the big geosynchronous satellites."
— Elon Musk [03:39]

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Future of Space Transport and Reusable Rockets

Key Topics:

• The necessity of reusable rockets
• Comparison with aircraft reusability

Discussion: Musk emphasizes the critical need for rockets to be as reusable as aircraft, highlighting the significant cost reductions and increased utility this approach would enable. He envisions a future where rockets can be relaunched rapidly, similar to commercial airplanes.

Notable Quote:

"We really need to get to rapidly and completely reusable rockets, just as is the case with aircraft."
— Elon Musk [04:39]

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Air Launch and Engine Developments

Key Topics:

• Partnership with Stratolaunch
• Development of new rocket engines

Discussion: Addressing collaborations, Musk mentions SpaceX's involvement with Stratolaunch, albeit not as a primary initiative. He also touches upon the development of more powerful rocket engines, confirming the name "Raptor" and hinting at future announcements.

Notable Quote:

"Yeah, every now and then I just throw something out. Fun. And I can confirm that the name of the engine is Raptor."
— Elon Musk [06:07]

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Grasshopper Test Rig and Vertical Landing

Key Topics:

• Development of the Grasshopper test rig
• Advancements in vertical landing technology

Discussion: Musk details the Grasshopper project, a pivotal test rig designed to perfect vertical landing capabilities for rockets. This technology is essential for achieving full reusability of SpaceX's launch vehicles.

Notable Quote:

"The Grasshopper is kind of a test rig and it's intended to help us develop vertical landing capability."
— Elon Musk [07:03]

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Asteroid Mining and Space Plans

Key Topics:

• Viability of asteroid mining
• Potential markets in deep space

Discussion: Musk explores the concept of asteroid mining, suggesting potential applications such as using asteroids as refueling stations en route to Mars. However, he expresses skepticism about the economic feasibility of returning valuable materials like platinum to Earth.

Notable Quote:

"I think there's potentially some market for mining asteroids as a kind of a refueling station on the way to Mars and other places."
— Elon Musk [08:17]

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Mars Missions and Timelines

Key Topics:

• Timeline for manned Mars missions
• SpaceX's readiness and mission leadership

Discussion: Musk shares his ambitious timeline for a manned Mars mission, targeting a 10 to 15-year window. He remains hopeful that SpaceX will spearhead such missions, potentially in collaboration with government entities or as entirely commercial endeavors.

Notable Quote:

"From a SpaceX standpoint, we'll be ready to do such a mission in the 10 to 15 year time frame."
— Elon Musk [10:44]

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SpaceX's Success Factors

Key Topics:

• Determinants of SpaceX's achievements
• Importance of technical talent and funding

Discussion: Reflecting on SpaceX's journey, Musk attributes their success to unwavering determination, a critical mass of technical talent, sufficient funding, and sensible design strategies. The breakthrough launch on the fourth attempt underscores these elements.

Notable Quote:

"We had a critical mass of technical talent and just enough money and a design that was sensible."
— Elon Musk [13:38]

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Balancing Multiple Enterprises

Key Topics:

• Time management across various ventures
• Prioritization based on company needs

Discussion: Musk discusses his approach to managing multiple high-impact companies. He strives to allocate his time evenly but remains flexible to dedicate more attention to the enterprise that requires it most at any given time.

Notable Quote:

"I split my time approximately evenly between the two companies, but depending upon which company needs me the most, I might allocate a bit more time to that company at times."
— Elon Musk [14:26]

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Views on NASA and Space Policy

Key Topics:

• Evaluation of NASA's current performance
• Support for commercial space initiatives

Discussion: Musk expresses positive sentiments about NASA, commending their support for commercial space ventures. He acknowledges NASA's role in advancing space exploration and has no immediate policy changes to suggest.

Notable Quote:

"I think NASA is actually doing a pretty good job overall. I mean, they've been very pro commercial space."
— Elon Musk [15:05]

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Hyperloop Concept

Key Topics:

• Introduction to the Hyperloop transportation system
• Vision for open-source transportation infrastructure

Discussion: Musk introduces the Hyperloop concept, envisioning it as a blend of electric and aerospace technologies. He aims to publish design details collaboratively, fostering an open-source approach to revolutionize transportation systems globally.

Notable Quote:

"The basic thought behind it is to have something like that that's cross between a railgun and a Concorde."
— Elon Musk [15:29]

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Favorite Fictional Spacecraft

Key Topics:

• Musk's inspiration from science fiction
• Favorite fictional spacecraft

Discussion: A self-proclaimed science fiction enthusiast, Musk shares his admiration for the spacecraft in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," particularly enamored by the Improbability Drive's whimsical design and functionality.

Notable Quote:

"I'd have to say that would be the one in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that's powered by the Improbability Drive."
— Elon Musk [16:54]

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Musk's engaging and forward-thinking perspectives on space exploration, technological innovation, and the future of humanity beyond Earth. His insights not only underscore SpaceX's pivotal role in advancing space technology but also inspire listeners to envision a future where space travel is commonplace and sustainable.

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Final Thoughts: This episode of "Elon Musk Thinking" offers a comprehensive look into Elon Musk's strategic vision for SpaceX and his broader aspirations for space exploration. From the intricacies of rocket technology to the ambitious plans for Mars missions, Musk's insights provide valuable understanding for enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

Transcript

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[Interviewer]

I'm here with Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal and space entrepreneur, electric car entrepreneur and solar power entrepreneur. So thanks for joining us, Eon. And just a few questions. Earlier this year you made history with having the first private spacecraft, SpaceX's Dragon, to dock the ISS. You must be feeling pretty confident now.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I feel reasonably good about things, but I don't want to be complacent. And we definitely want to keep the pace of technology progression as rapid as possible. So we wanted to do lots of launches which are kind of our bread and butter, and then keep pushing the envelope in parallel on new technology.

[Interviewer]

Okay, and have you identified the causes of the anomalies from the October carbon cargo flight? You know, there was a little bit of issues with the rocket and what have you, just a scratch.

[Elon Musk]

Just a flash word.

[Interviewer]

So it won't have any impact on the human rated Dragon sort of development?

[Elon Musk]

No, we actually file flight plans. When we file a flight plan, we file a flight plan with zero, one and two engines. Out.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Elon Musk]

So it wasn't even considered from the Air Force and FAA standpoint, it wasn't actually considered an anomaly because it was one of the prescribed flight plans.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And beyond the Falcon 9, you've got the Falcon Heavy rocket waiting.

[Elon Musk]

Or it was considered an anomaly but not a failure. Sorry.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so you have the. Beyond the Falcon 9, you've got the Falcon Heavy sort of rocket in development or waiting in the wings. What's that all about? And is there really about a market for it? Because satellites seem to be getting kind of a lot smaller these days, so.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I think they're getting smaller and bigger. On the small side, you got companies like. Sorry. Which I used to be an investor in until it was acquired, and I certainly admire what they're doing in small satellites. And then on the big side, you've got the big geosynchronous satellites, where particularly for places that have a limited number of geostationary spots, they actually want the satellite to be as big as possible. So I think you've got this bifurcation going to both big and to small, but probably with fewer media.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And also with the human rated systems and the iss, obviously NASA, after the retirement of the spatial NASA, NASA is very keen to get a US subsystem there funding a lot of you and your competitors. So there could be a case of going from no US systems to several in the next few years. You know yourselves, it'd be really great. Do you think there's room enough for all of them?

[Elon Musk]

I think as long as we're making revolutionary improvements in space transport, I think there is room for a lot of companies. But we really need to get to rapidly and completely reusable rockets, just as is the case with aircraft. Aircraft are rapidly and completely reusable. I mean, they have a maintenance cycle and everything. But basically you put fuel in and fly it again and you can land a 747 and take off an hour and a half later. And you should be able to do that with rockets too. And if you do that, then the cost would come down so dramatically that I think we could find many uses for rockets.

[Interviewer]

And can you give us an update on the air launch Stratolaunch system that was announced last year? You're partnering there, you're going to be doing the rocket launch bit. What's that all about and where does it kind of fit into your family of rockets launchers?

[Elon Musk]

Well, that's definitely not one of our main initiatives. And I think there's likely to be some changes in that program, but nothing I could comment on myself.

[Interviewer]

You've also dropped hints of a more powerful rocket engine under development, Raptor or mct. People seem to be talking about. What does MCT stand for? And is that right?

[Elon Musk]

Yeah, every now and again I just throw something out. Fun. And I can confirm that the name of the engine is Raptor. I'd like to announce maybe some details about the engine next year. But perhaps what's even more interesting is the spaceship that that's attached to.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And does the M in MCT stand for anything to do with Mars or Martian or.

[Elon Musk]

Okay to leave a little, you know, you show a little leg, not all of it. Okay.

[Interviewer]

You've also got a vertical landing system, the Grasshopper, in development. How does that again, how does that fit into the family of that? That's the reusability of rockets.

[Elon Musk]

Right. So the Grasshopper is kind of a test rig and it's intended to help us develop vertical landing capability. Obviously the rockets can certainly take off vertically and we need to make them land. And so Grasshopper has very robust landing legs. It's designed to be able to take very often nominal landings. It's got a Falcon 9 version 1 stage and combined with the Merlin 1D engine that would go on the next generation Falcon 9. So it's sort of a hybrid vehicle of past and future technologies. We'll use it to sort of figure out a bunch of things and then next year we'll upgrade to the actual flight design of Falcon 9. The next generation Falcon 9.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so is there a data to then recover the top stage or. Or the whole thing?

[Elon Musk]

Yeah, long term, our goal is to recover the entire rocket and be able to relaunch the whole thing quickly.

[Interviewer]

Okay. This year also, we've also seen planetary resources launched. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think asteroid mining is viable? Are they ringing up wanting to know prices on deep space launch? Prices?

[Elon Musk]

Our rockets are standing by. I think there's potentially some market for mining asteroids as a kind of a refueling station on the way to Mars and other places I don't see. I'm not convinced that there's a case for taking say platinum or something that's found in an asteroid and bringing it back to Earth.

[Interviewer]

Have you seen the UK sort of sky launch space plane project? What's your take on those air breathing?

[Elon Musk]

Don't know it well enough. In the past, whenever I've done the basic math on having an air breathing stage, it doesn't seem to make sense, but I could be wrong about that. And Always look to sort of figure out how I can get around.

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[Elon Musk]

I think it's maybe easier just to increase the size of the boost stage than to add any air breathing stage.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And you've obviously famously said you want to retire on Mars, which fantastic ambition. Is it something that you've got a team at SpaceX actively working on? Are they kind of looking at spaceships and habs and what have you designing the Musk retirement home.

[Elon Musk]

Right. Well, there's no real work going on right now in terms of designing Mars habitats. I think we need to focus our energies on designing the Mars spaceship first and then that would effectively be the first habitat.

[Interviewer]

Okay, and how far away do you sort of see a manned Mars mission, you know, and who do you think would will be going there? Do you think it will be the US or China or international or commercial mission?

[Elon Musk]

Well, I'm hopeful that from a SpaceX standpoint, we'll be ready to do such a mission in the 10 to 15 year time frame.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Elon Musk]

So we'll see if that occurs. And obviously that would be an American. It may or may not be a government or maybe some government involvement or none. I don't know quite yet. But I think SpaceX will be ready in approximately that time frame.

[Interviewer]

Okay, well, you've had an exciting year obviously this year. So what can we look forward to in 2013 in terms of SpaceX news and accomplishments in 2013?

[Elon Musk]

I'm hoping we'll be able to demonstrate high altitude supersonic lift off and return. So to be able to have the stage take off, go supersonic, and then come back and land repulsively at the launch site. Then I hope we'll also demonstrate the Falcon Heavy towards the end of next year and it'll be the most powerful vehicle in the world by a factor of two and more than a factor of two actually. Yeah. So next 2013 should be exciting year.

[Interviewer]

Okay. How many people now work at SpaceX? What are kind of the recruitment plans there? I get a lot of feedback from people saying, how do we get a job there?

[Elon Musk]

Well, it's quite difficult for us to employ people that don't have a green card because of us ITAR rules. So my first advice would be do anything you can to get a green card. We haven't been successful in a few cases with getting permission from the US State Department, Defense Department to employ non US citizens, but it's very difficult to do that, unfortunately. I wish it were easier.

[Interviewer]

Okay, and where do you get your passion for space from in the first place? Where did it kind of start that sort of inkling you wanted to be in this field?

[Elon Musk]

Well, I mean, I was always a big fan of science fiction movies, books, and I always thought that we were on our way to becoming a space bearing civilization just to be like the stories that one would read about. And then I was disappointed to learn that it didn't seem to be happening. And that's why I got into, that's why I started SpaceX, is to sort of make that a reality and not just be forever a fiction.

[Interviewer]

What do you attribute to the success of SpaceX so far? I mean, the last time you were here you'd just done the launch and that had gone well. And I think a lot of you kind of surprised and were pleasantly surprised. A lot of people said, wow, you know, this is someone who's come on scene and done it right first time. And you know, we're quite shocked in a way. What do you put down to that sort of success there?

[Elon Musk]

Well, we certainly were very, very determined to succeed and fortunately we had just enough money to make it to the fourth launch, which was the one that worked, thank goodness. Yeah, but I think we had a critical mass of technical talent and just enough money and a design that was sensible. And those were probably the three ingredients that resulted in success eventually.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And you've always got a number of different enterprises going on at the same time, such as Telsa and the solar power. So how do you split your time and kind of juggle between them? How do you divide your time and attention?

[Elon Musk]

Well, I split my time approximately evenly between the two companies, but although depending upon which company needs me the most, I might allocate a bit more time to that company at times. So right now I put a majority of my time on Tesla, but earlier this year was a majority of my time on SpaceX.

[Interviewer]

And if you were, obviously you're in the commercial sector, but there's NASA kind of beavering away there. If you were the head of NASA, what would be your priorities? What, what sort of changes would you make and how would you steer space policy, for example.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I think NASA is actually doing a pretty good job overall. I mean, they've been a very pro commercial space. And I really have really nothing but good things to say about what NASA's doing.

[Interviewer]

Okay. Another thing that's been mentioned as well with Mars is something called Hyperloop, which, I don't know, is it aerospace or a train system or.

[Elon Musk]

You know, it's funny, it's sort of a combination of electric and aerospace. I'd like to publish something before the end of the year, hopefully, but I want to make sure I bet it with a few people within SpaceX and Tesla and maybe a few outside people, and then just sort of put it out there as this is something that I think would be sensible and then ask people to add to it and modify it. And maybe people have, I'm sure people have good ideas about making it better and then try to come up with some sort of standard design that anyone can implement in the world. I think that would be quite cool. Sort of like an open source operating system, like an open source transport system. That would be really neat. But the basic thought behind it is to have something like that that's cross between a railgun and a Concorde. Wow. Yeah. Now some people, and I sort of like saying that because some people are going to be scared about that and some people are like, yes, that's awesome. I'm appealing to the second group and.

[Interviewer]

That would be using kind of a maglev in a possibility of vacuum to.

[Elon Musk]

Nice try.

[Interviewer]

Okay, well, we're almost there. Final question then. You said you were a big science fiction fan. Yeah. So I've got to ask you, what's your favorite fictional spacecraft?

[Elon Musk]

Ooh, fictional spacecraft. Well, you know, I'd have to say that would be the one in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that's powered by the Improbability Drive.

[Interviewer]

Fantastic.

[Elon Musk]

I mean, that thing's awesome. This is the most unexpected things.

[Interviewer]

Right. So that's a scoop in half. The MCT will be powered by the infinite probability.

[Elon Musk]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

Brilliant. It's been fantastic talking to you and very much looking forward to hearing your lecture later.

[Elon Musk]

All right, thank you. Thank you.