Elon Musk Gushes About Future Expansion At Trump Meeting

I'm pretty used to Musk gushing. The shareholders eat it up!

And he has the real stuffs to show for: countless $100K+ Tesla S/X on California roads everyday is a reminder.

I used to work in aerospace industry, the cost of space launch was over $20K/lb for DOD payload, a little lower for commercial ones. SpaceX has cut it to an order of magnitude lower. How's that for an achievement ?

Not to mention reusable rockets. The old Saturn IVA/B used to cost over $400M a piece, used one and gone. The Falcon 9 with similar payload costs around $60M and is reusable.

Sorry HenryN - but the Falcon 9 heavy (Not yet even tested) does not even approach the ability of the Saturn V rocket - which had more than 2 1/2 times the payload capacity - about 54,000Kg to 140,000. I do not know where you are getting your figures but it is clear the Falcon 9 itself - which does not approach the figures for the Heavy version - only has a 22,800KG. You have to expect that technology has improved over time - remembering that it is almost 60 years since the rocket and them space programs started - -using computers that used punch cards - even for Apollo and for some space shuttle missions too. Eventually Nasa had a reusable space shuttle - still quite an accomplishment in those times. However - space travel - due to its nature - is less competitive - and since it is costly - it tends to follow new Launch platforms - which almost always have lower costs. In the Auto industry - the actual amount of Tesla's running around is a drop in the bucket compared to the production of the big car makers - who will be his competition. It is one thing to sell a few expensive cars with no real competition at set prices (And still not make a profit) - but by the end of the decade virtually ALL the major manufacturers will be in the hunt - and his sales and service model will put Tesla at a great disadvantage.

@TomM: typo - should read Titan IV, not Saturn (I'm not too old to have worked in the Saturn era). These rockets (Titan IV and Falcon 9) have similar capabilities.

The fact that the Air Force granted SpaceX contracts speaks volume about their achievement and the confidence USAF has on them. Air Force contracts are very lucrative, price is not a huge concern and mission success is key.

As for cars, there are so many makes out there all of which can do basically the same task - transport people (getting the joy out of this is up to us individuals and our choices of cars). From this sea of cars, Tesla stands out for what it is and what it aims to do. Not very many companies have published their long term plans like Musk does - we know where he's heading, no ambiguity. How he executes those plans may not be to everyone's liking, but so far he has not strayed from those plans.

For someone who in a little over a decade has changed the landscape of 2 mature and powerful industries - automobile and aerospace - there are actually many achievements to gush about. Musk is being modest.

@BobM I need to get in on this gravytrain.

And other US manufacturers got a lot more... guess what, American's lost those billions that were invested into the old-school companies. Why aren't you ranting about those?

Tim Cook looks so pale in that photo. 2016 saw the release of new emoji and the removal of the headphone jack.