Elon Musk was on the Space Show Thursday night for the first half hour.

My notes:
* Falcon 1 launch pushed to first quarter 2008 because of :
--- A switch to the upgraded Merlin 1C engine.
--- Some performance and reliability upgrades to the Kestrel second stage engine
--- A switch for a second stage tank to higher strength aluminum
--- General robustness improvements
* Baffles added to 2nd stage LOX tank to prevent sloshing. Control system changes could also prevent the problem according to simulations but they will use both. Simulations have reproduced very closely the sloshing problem on the March launch.
* Three external organizations have reviewed their study of the sloshing problem and the proposed fixes and have agreed with them.
* Some impact on Falcon 9 schedule.
* A move to a big new facility will also impact schedule.
* Working to output a new official schedule.
* Expect to have Falcon 9 on launch pad next year but more toward end of year rather than summer.
* No fund raising currently. Doing quite well financially. Cash flow positive again this year. Maybe even a profit.
* 320-330 people currently. Up to 500 by next year.
* Wouldn't consider going public till after a Falcon 9 launch.
* Jack Kennedy asked about launching from Virginia Spaceport. (See Virginia Has a Very Good Chance with SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch - Spaceports) Virginia would be excellent for ISS servicing missions. Always want option of 2 spaceports available at any given time.
* Already constructed a Falcon 9 first stage and transported it to Texas for testing. Sized to be transportable on roads.
* Faring also built in four sections rather than halves so each can be moved by standard, low cost shipping containers.
* What would he do differently?
--- Go straight to regenerative first stage engine instead of ablative
--- Higher thrust first stage.
--- I.e. Essentially he would have gone directly to Merlin 1C
--- Made Falcon 1 a larger diameter vehicle. 6.5-7 feet instead of 5.5ft.
--- Made fairing equal to second stage diameter rather than 10% smaller
* Happy with LOX/Kerosene and structure materials. Most major decisions seem OK. Starting from scratch after all so bound to learn a lot.
* Designed Dragon to be docking compatible with both ISS and Bigelow mechanisms.
* Question about incremental testing:
--- Difficult to do incremental testing
--- Wouldn't have helped our schedule, which was determined by first stage and avionics development.
* Kwajalein launching has been a handicap over launching from Vandenberg. The corroded nut that led to the engine failure in the first flight probably would not have happened with a Vandenberg launch.
* Rating of progress on 0-100 scale is probably around 70.
* Much harder than Paypal. Need a perfect product at launch time. Unlike any other field.
* Would do it again. Making good progress. Especially between the two Falcon launches. Three strike limit is no longer in play.
* Rocket business reminds him of the Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter. No matter how much you spend, even if you are a Boeing, there is a chance of a failure.
* Will probably attend the Utah Smallsat meeting.
* Some questions about Tesla.
--- 80-85% time on SpaceX. Tesla takes about 10%
--- Expect production vehicles on road by end of last quarter.
--- No major issues remain.
--- Crash testing
--- Only about 10% parts carry over from the Lotus Elise