What Elon SaidAn archive of questions answered

Subjects / SpaceX

SpaceX

101 answers

Fact

How much solar is SpaceX aiming to produce?

“Actually, we’re aiming for 1TW/year from Earth, rising to over 1PW/year from the Moon. That’s why I say that if we achieve this outcome, SpaceX will obviously be worth more than Earth, because space is so staggeringly enormous!”

— Elon Musk, 11 November 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Can Starlink outcompete undersea internet cables?

“~100 lasers per satellite, each operating above 10 Tb/s, with over 100k satellites should be able to outcompete undersea cables. Speed of light in space is ~40% faster than cable and the path is direct, instead of following the outline of land masses.”

— Elon Musk, 6 November 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

How much of SpaceX’s revenue comes from the US government?

“Tesla has no government contracts and President Trump ended federal incentives for electric vehicles. SpaceX contracts with the government are BOTH the best product AND the lowest price! Moreover government revenue will be less than 10% of SpaceX revenue this quarter and less then 5% a year from now. Happy to cancel any that the government doesn’t want. Just say the word!”

— Elon Musk, 6 November 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

What is the new Roadster?

“Success is not certain, but excitement is The new Tesla Roadster is a candidate for greatest product demo of all time… New Roadster is beyond movies, beyond imagination, beyond human, yet still made by humans on Earth”

— Elon Musk, 16 October 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Can Starlink save lives?

“Also, Starlink has proven to be essential for saving lives during natural disasters throughout the world, when all other communications systems have failed, so you would also be helping save men, women and children throughout India. 🇮🇳 Starlink saves lives during natural disasters… Starlink brings Internet access to remote places…”

— Elon Musk, 8 October 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Will SpaceX build a base on the Moon?

“Moonbase Alpha will be so cool. And we want to make it so that anyone can go to the Moon if they want. Starship can enable a permanently crewed science station on the Moon, which would be super cool! Moonbase Alpha!!”

— Elon Musk, 11 August 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why do you keep so much of your wealth?

“I mean, I, like, I need to have sufficient voting control in the companies to, you know, still be in charge. So it’s the, you know, my sort of so-called wealth is simply a percentage ownership in the, in the, in SpaceX and Tesla essentially, and this is going to be taxed quite heavily, and there’s not some magical way to avoid taxes. If, if it were, I would know about it. So, you know, at the end of the day, the, this will get whittled down, and a few generations from now, so if money still matters, which I don’t think it will, you know, my descendants would have a tiny fraction of what I have.”

— Elon Musk, 6 August 2026 · Watch: YouTube (22:05) ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Is SpaceX getting a tax break for Terafab?

“Something that perhaps isn’t clear is that, if this location works out (other locations are still in the running), SpaceX will still be paying an annual amount that increases tax revenue for Grimes County by ~25% and will be by far the biggest source of revenue for the county.”

— Elon Musk, 4 June 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Will SpaceX go to the Moon / build a Moon base?

“Mostly true. What matters is securing the long-term future of consciousness, both on Earth and other heavenly bodies. We cannot just focus on Earth, because there are irreducible external (eg massive meteor) and internal (eg global nuclear war) cataclysmic risks. The Moon is faster to make self-growing, but is more susceptible to problems on Earth. Mars will take longer to make self-growing, because it is so hard to reach, but is more secure from Earth disasters for that same reason. Both the Moon and Mars should have self-growing civilizations. Making this happen is the prime directive of SpaceX.”

— Elon Musk, 26 May 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Will SpaceX go to the Moon / build a Moon base?

“The priority shift is because I’m worried that a natural or manmade catastrophe stops the resupply ships coming from Earth, causing the colony to die out. We can make the Moon city self-growing in less than 10 years, but Mars will take 20+ years due to the 26 month iteration cycle. That is what matters most. There is also an AI bonus element, but the prime directive must be ensuring the long-term survival of consciousness.”

— Elon Musk, 9 February 2026 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Prediction

When will Starship be fully and rapidly reusable?

“Making a fully reusable orbital rocket of any design is one of the hardest engineering problems of all time. Much, much harder than going to the Moon, which is why it still hasn’t been solved. I am cautiously optimistic that Starship will achieve full reusability next year. The other critical technology, albeit much easier, is orbital refilling. If fortune favors us, that will also be achieved next year. Then consciousness and life as we know it can extend to the planets and hence to the stars.”

— Elon Musk, 22 August 2025 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Prediction

Why are your timelines always late?

“I might be late, but I always deliver in the end From impossible to late… I think I do have like an issue with, uh, time. …would not have probably done cars or rockets. I am trying to recalibrate as much as possible.”

— Elon Musk, 14 August 2025 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why is Mars “life insurance”?

“That’s one of the benefits of Mars, is life insurance for life collectively… So, eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the sun. The sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multiplanet civilization, because Earth will be incinerated.”

— Elon Musk, May 2025 · Space.com ↗ · In the archive

Prediction

When will Starship be fully and rapidly reusable?

“Starship is now more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V Moon rocket and, in a year or so, it will be three times as powerful at 10,000 metric tons of thrust. More importantly, it is designed to be fully reusable, burning ~80% liquid oxygen and ~20% liquid methane (very low cost propellant). This enables cost per ton to orbital space to be ~10,000% lower than Saturn V. Starship is the difference between being a multiplanet or single planet civilization. Building a new world on Mars is now possible.”

— Elon Musk, 7 November 2024 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why does Starship need orbital refilling?

“The other crucial element, for missions beyond Earth, is orbital refilling. This requires docking with ourselves for propellant transfer, which is far easier than docking with the Space Station, something we already do several times a year.”

— Elon Musk, 24 September 2024 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

How did SpaceX really start?

“That was not the founding of SpaceX. We were in Russia to negotiate buying some ICBMs and converting them to launch a philanthropic mission to Mars. I later came to realize that the problem wasn’t the will to go to Mars – there is plenty of public interest – but rather that massive advancements were needed in rocket technology.”

— Elon Musk, 21 June 2024 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Do aliens exist?

“I’ve not seen any evidence of aliens… And SpaceX, with the Starlink constellation, has roughly 6,000 satellites, and not once have we had to maneuver around a UFO… Never. So I’m like, okay, I don’t see any evidence of aliens.”

— Elon Musk, 6 May 2024 · Space.com ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Could SpaceX really go bankrupt?

“If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability / liquidity while SpaceX was losing billions on Starlink & Starship, then bankruptcy, while still unlikely, is not impossible. GM & Chrysler went BK last recession. “Only the paranoid survive.” – Grove …”

— Elon Musk, 30 November 2021 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why do reusable rockets matter?

“Full & rapid reusability is the holy grail of orbital rocketry Starship is designed to be 100% reusable and ultimately be ready to refly within an hour of landing. This is the key to becoming a multiplanet civilization. No one would buy a single-use airplane, car or even bicycle! You’d need to tow another car just for the return trip 🤣”

— Elon Musk, 20 October 2021 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

Did you really say you have Asperger’s on live TV?

“I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL. I don’t always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak... which I’m told makes for great comedy. I know I sometimes say or post strange things, but that’s just how my brain works. To anyone I’ve offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill normal dude?”

— Elon Musk, 8 May 2021 · Watch: SNL video (0:48) ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

What does "the best part is no part" mean?

“We’re going to try to catch the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower arm, using the grid fins to take the load. Saves mass & cost of legs & enables immediate repositioning of booster on to launch mount — ready to refly in under an hour. Legs would certainly work, but best part is no part, best step is no step.”

— Elon Musk, 30 December 2020 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

What did you do after PayPal?

“Felt I had done enough on the Internet (Zip2 & PayPal) that my work would be useful to others. Needed to get going on accelerating sustainable energy & making life multiplanetary. Started Zip2 with ~$2k & ~$100k of student debt, rolled proceeds into X/PayPal, rolled proceeds again into SpaceX/Tesla…”

— Elon Musk, 19 September 2020 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why build a satellite internet network?

“We see this as a way for SpaceX to generate revenue that can be used to develop more and more advanced rockets and spaceships… We believe we can use the revenue from Starlink to fund Starship.”

— Elon Musk, 15 May 2019 · CNBC ↗ · In the archive

Fact

How much will a ticket to Mars cost?

“Very dependent on volume, but I’m confident moving to Mars (return ticket is free) will one day cost less than $500k & maybe even below $100k. Low enough that most people in advanced economies could sell their home on Earth & move to Mars if they want.”

— Elon Musk, 11 February 2019 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

What’s your philosophy?

“Should prob articulate philosophy underlying my actions. It’s pretty simple & mostly influenced by Douglas Adams & Isaac Asimov. Foundation Series & Zeroth Law are fundamental to creation of SpaceX I love Banks. Best books in recent years imo are Iain Banks & George Martin. The future is a set of branching probability streams. Some actions by humanity have an extremely leveraged effect on shape & size of those streams.”

— Elon Musk, 15 June 2018 · Post on X ↗ · In the archive

Fact

What is first-principles thinking?

“…like on rockets for example one could say oh you know that you could Reason by analogy and say the Rocket's going to cost a certain amount because that's what prior Rockets have cost or you can say well what is a rocket made of what the material constituents what are those M what do they weigh what's the cost per unit mass and that sets the limit ASM totically for what a rocket can be so if you can figure out some creative way to rearrange those elements into a rocket shape then you can achieve a much better outcome that's the first principles approach…”

— Elon Musk, 8 October 2014 · Watch: Elon Musk | Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2014 · 30:06 ↗ · In the archive

Fact

What happened at Christmas 2008?

“I remember waking up the Sunday before Christmas in 2008, and thinking to myself, ‘Man, I never thought I was someone who could ever be capable of a nervous breakdown,’ but I felt, ‘This is the closest I’ve ever come.’… I couldn’t even hold the phone, I just blurted out, ‘I love you guys.’…”

— Elon Musk, March 2014 · Watch: 60 Minutes video (8:25) ↗ · In the archive

Opinion

Why Mars?

“It’s the first time in four and a half billion years that we are at a level of technology where we have the ability to reach Mars. The sun is gradually expanding… the oceans will boil and there will be no meaningful life on Earth. …space travel is the best thing we can do to extend the life of humanity. I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact.”

— Elon Musk, 9 March 2013 · Watch: SXSW video (42:36) ↗ · In the archive