Decreasing Costs in Space Travel

Musk talks about how there’s no one area where costs were reduced in space travel, rather it was every decision across the board. The focus was on simplicity–and simplicity reduces costs. For example, fewer components means fewer components to repair, and to purchase, as well as to test. The avionics vehicles communicate via ethernet–while not novel, it is unheard of, compared to other systems that use cables, he says. In addition, overhead at a 30 person company is much cheaper than at Lockheed or Boeing, he notes.