I feel very strongly that SpaceX would not have been able to get started, nor would we have made the progress that we have, without the help of NASA.

The odds of me coming into the rocket business, not knowing anything about rockets, not having ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in my favor.

If you think back to the beginning of cell phones, laptops or really any new technology, it's always expensive.

I realized that a methane-oxygen rocket engine could achieve a specific impulse greater than 380.

If you had to buy a new plane every time you flew somewhere, it would be incredibly expensive.

Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.

To our knowledge, life exists on only one planet, Earth. If something bad happens, it's gone. I think we should establish life on another planet-Mars in particular-but we 're not making very good progress. SpaceX is intended to make that happen.