Full house at the @MetOpera for SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking now with billionaire investor Ron Baron.
Shotwell: SpaceX achieved what it has largely because of private funding. You can go as fast as you want & you can tolerate failure.
Baron: Why hasn't Bezos been doing this? He's spending lots of money.
Shotwell: They're two years older than us and they've yet to reach orbit. They get $1 billion of "free money" each year but I think engineers work better when they're pushed.
Shotwell: They're two years older than us and they've yet to reach orbit. They get $1 billion of "free money" each year but I think engineers work better when they're pushed.
Baron: Why is returning an orbital rocket so hard?
Shotwell: You have tons of heat as it goes through the atmosphere at high speed and you need to have the engine refire successfully and then "you have to land on a dime, although our dime is a big circle shaped like an X."
Shotwell: You have tons of heat as it goes through the atmosphere at high speed and you need to have the engine refire successfully and then "you have to land on a dime, although our dime is a big circle shaped like an X."
Shotwell, on SpaceX's competitors and why other companies haven't built and landed orbital rockets: "Boeing and Lockheed like their cushy situation."
Baron: Is point-to-point space travel happening any time soon?
Shotwell: Any time I talk about timelines I turn myself into a liar.
We want Starship to fly to orbit next year, we want to land on the Moon with cargo and people by 2022.
Shotwell: Any time I talk about timelines I turn myself into a liar.
We want Starship to fly to orbit next year, we want to land on the Moon with cargo and people by 2022.
Shotwell: Point-to-point "is a derivative industry for us." It will be cheaper than a current first class ticket, "but a little more than economy."
Shotwell: "I think we will have a propulsion breakthrough in my lifetime that we can then say we will build a ship and start the journey" to the next potentially habitable solar system.
Shotwell on Starlink: Our investors and our board in 2012 said "your customers have much higher margins" from the satellite business.
Shotwell: Next year we're going to be 60 Starlink satellites "every other week."
"Once we get to 1200 satellites we will have coverage of the whole globe."
"Once we get to 1200 satellites we will have coverage of the whole globe."
Baron: How many satellites do we have right now?
Shotwell: About 1500.
Shotwell: About 1500.
Baron: So when you have tens of thousands in orbit, how will you know you're not going to run into other satellites?
Shotwell: Think about 30,00 people on Earth spread out fairly evenly ... you could spend your whole life and never see another person.
Shotwell: Think about 30,00 people on Earth spread out fairly evenly ... you could spend your whole life and never see another person.
Shotwell: Starlink satellites will have roughly a 5 year life in orbit before we refresh.
Morgan Stanley estimated this week how much it would cost to deploy our satellites "and they were wayyyyyyyy off."
Morgan Stanley estimated this week how much it would cost to deploy our satellites "and they were wayyyyyyyy off."
For what it's worth, Morgan Stanley's assumed $1 million cost per Starlink satellite with a $50 million cost per launch.
"30,000 broadband satellites could require ~$60b of incremental capital," Morgan Stanley said.
"30,000 broadband satellites could require ~$60b of incremental capital," Morgan Stanley said.
Shotwell: SpaceX's Starlink is way less expensive than OneWeb and "17 times better or cheaper."
"Jeff Bezos wants to start a constellation and he's years behind."
"Jeff Bezos wants to start a constellation and he's years behind."
Q from audience: What is the Baron investment in SpaceX and the current valuation?
Baron: Our investment at market is about $150 million.
Baron: Our investment at market is about $150 million.
Shotwell, on achieving what @ElonMusk asks SpaceX to do: "Elon says 'we're going to do this' and then everyone stops breathing." But then we start making it digestible and possible.
Baron: What's an example?
Shotwell: He said we were going to land a rocket on a boat.
Baron: What's an example?
Shotwell: He said we were going to land a rocket on a boat.
Here's my first story from the Baron Funds event
