Elon Emails

not launch until all engineers are two thumbs up, so that date may get pushed back. [...] do not use a permanent tower on the pad, employing instead our mobile erector/launcher platform. [...] fired Merlin (our main engine) in the fully integrated configuration, with both the thrust chamber assembly, turbo-pump and gas generator attached to a set of flight tanks. This is one of the biggest milestones before launch and the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by the propulsion team. [...] rock solid reliable [...] [W]e are spending more than planned on this piece of equipment, we expect to be able to reuse it essentially forever (i.e. thousands of flights), so long as the stage itself is recovered. [...] we can't yet obtain the non-explosive separation nuts with sufficient strength to hold the stages together under maximum load. [...] probably the most powerful rocket flight computer in the world, since it is the most recently designed and the only one to use current 21st century technology. [...] The rocket is truly a flying radio station, with two C-band, four S-band, two UHF and two GPS antennas, as well as a beacon antenna on the first stage for location by the recovery ship