CHAPTER 6
DON’T PANIC
The first rocket SpaceX built cost $6 million—a quarter of what similar rockets were going for, according to Elon.
That was the first win. Now he had to launch it, preferably without blowing it up in the process.
In 2005, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, some two thousand miles from Hawaii, Elon and his team took over a tiny speck of the Marshall Islands, called the Kwajalein Atoll—home to their launch site.
At this point, Elon knew the rocket inside out—well enough, he said, to redraw the whole thing without the blueprints. It had taken two years longer than Elon originally hoped to get to this moment. But the moment had arrived. It was time to show the world what SpaceX could do. Elon and Kimbal flew out together to witness the launch for themselves.
On November 26, 2005, at the launchpad, liquid oxygen filled the tanks. It was three o’clock in the morning. The team took up positions in mission control, some twenty-six miles away from the launch site.
The plan? First stage would launch and reach speeds of 6,850 mph. The rocket’s second stage would then ignite and increase the speed to 17,000 mph.
The six-hour launch window began. Preflight checks began. And then—the mission was aborted. They had a problem.
An oxygen tank valve was to blame. As the team worked to address that issue, others were discovered. A first launch would now be months away.
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by,”97 Hitchhiker’s Guide author Douglas Adams once said. He was famous for not meeting them. And now Elon was too. Though to be fair, Elon set the impossible deadlines himself. This became known (mostly affectionately) as Elon time.
Falcon 1 small launch vehicle at Kwajalein Atoll. (Photo by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [DARPA].)
BACK IN THE SADDLE
March 24, 2006—the sound of Elon’s flip-flops smacking the floor set the rhythm as he paced back and forth in the Kwajalein control room. Falcon 1 was fueled and ready for launch. Preflight checks began. All systems were GO. The Merlin engine ignited. Falcon 1 roared skyward. A camera attached to the rocket recorded liftoff, climbing, climbing, and then … disaster. The rocket started to spin. A fire broke out above the engine. And now the whole business was falling back to Earth. It crashed onto the launchpad.
Air tanks on their backs and diving masks pulled into place, SpaceX employees fished rocket debris from the adjacent reef.
Elon reassured his team. “SpaceX is in this for the long haul and, come hell or high water, we are going to make this work,”98 he said.
Even though the launch had not been successful, SpaceX had made enough progress that the company was in the running for a NASA contract to build a cargo ship to resupply the International Space Station. In August, NASA awarded SpaceX a $278 million contract to start development. This was a huge win for SpaceX. The development would lead to the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon capsule. But right now, SpaceX still needed to get its first rocket off the ground and into orbit successfully.
Meanwhile, at home, Justine and Elon welcomed triplets into the world. They now had a brood of five boys. Justine had published her first novel, BloodAngel. She was also detailing their often exciting private lives on her blog: Tales of lavish nightlife included cameos from the who’s who of Hollywood like Leonardo DiCaprio. But under the surface, Elon and Justine’s marriage was in trouble.
“Nevada’s death sent me on a years-long inward spiral into depression and distraction,”99 she recalled in an article she penned for Marie Claire magazine. In the same article, Justine made it clear that as their marriage unraveled, she felt like a trophy wife, no longer adored for her creative ambition, intellect, and accomplishments. Elon has never publicly discussed his side of what was going wrong, only that the relationship was “on the rocks.”100
As Justine began talking to a therapist, Elon was under enormous pressure to get that rocket into orbit while Tesla needed to wow the world with a prototype.
SPLASH
Elon may not have been running Tesla, but he was very involved in giving feedback on the car, its engineering, technology, and look. He also offered insight into the importance of how the car should be revealed to the public. He understood you only get one chance to make a splash.
Testing and tweaking, the team examined everything— aerodynamics, engine performance, design, battery cooling, and much more. Finally, a handful of prototypes were ready. The team prepared to introduce the world to a new era in electric cars.
In July 2006, the moment arrived. Tesla hosted a splashy event and promised a big announcement. VIPs like then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attended, eager for a glimpse. The press was waiting. And when the Tesla Roadster was unveiled, they were not disappointed.
As Elon put it: “Until today, all electric cars have sucked.”101
Elon Musk and Martin Eberhard presenting the Tesla Roadster, July 19, 2006. (Photo by Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.)
The headlines that followed were head spinners.
“The Tesla Roadster goes from zero to 60 in four noiseless seconds,”102 crowed the Washington Post. Wired magazine simply showed a sleek black Roadster next to the heading: BATTERIES INCLUDED.
After the headlines, that old granola, low-budget reputation of electric cars had been turned on its head. It was now conceivable that you could have a crazy luxurious vehicle that also made a statement about the environment. The response was overwhelming.
Capturing the public’s imagination, Tesla became something of an obsession. The media could not get enough. Celebrities and anyone else who could afford the roughly $100,000 Tesla Roadster were putting down deposits.
That said, showing off the car was exciting. Now the Tesla team just needed to produce and deliver them. Easy, right?
SUN
A month after that announcement, Elon was ready for another milestone—at yet another company. Remember that Rive-brothers-Burning-Man road trip? Their big idea had finally made a two-year-long journey from desert brainstorm through research and business plan to an actual real live company: SolarCity.
In August 2006, Peter and Lyndon Rive founded SolarCity with Elon as a financial investor. Owning a third of the company, he became the company’s largest shareholder and chairman as well.
Peter Rive, Elon Musk, Lyndon Rive, and NASDAQ’s Bruce Aust at the SolarCity initial public offering. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/AP Images.)
Building off of Elon’s original comments and questions, the Rive brothers began solving the challenge of getting solar panels on roofs. At the time, if you wanted to put solar panels on your house, you had to do a lot of the legwork yourself. You had to figure out how much energy your roof might produce, where to buy the panels, and then find someone who could stick them up. Plus, you had to pay for it all up-front. In short, it was a major commitment.
The Rives decided to streamline the entire process. SolarCity would analyze your solar power potential with their own software. Then, SolarCity would purchase the panels and install them. Customers would lease them over many years. Additional perks included being able to pass your lease on to a new homeowner should you sell your house.
They offered this service to businesses as well.
Between juggling SolarCity, Tesla, SpaceX, his admittedly rocky marriage, and fatherhood to five small boys, Elon had a lot going on. But he remained driven about the very things that excited him as a college student: the Internet, electric cars, space, and sustainable energy.
And he was determined to make a difference—through sheer force of will.
Gwynne Shotwell. (Photo by NASA/Kim Shiflett.)
NAME: Gwynne Shotwell, president, SpaceX
As a little girl, Gwynne Shotwell was full of questions such as, how does a car work? Gwynne’s artist mom couldn’t answer her third grader’s questions, but ever supportive and encouraging, she gave Gwynne a book that could. As she delved into the mechanical and engineering details, Gwynne’s interest grew.
And then there was a chance encounter that sealed her fate. Gwynne’s mom took her to an event held by the Society of Women Engineers. Gwynne was enthralled by the engineer speaking to the crowd. The speaker wasn’t just any engineer, but a female engineer. “I fell in love with the mechanical engineer that spoke,” Gwynne explained during a TED Talk. “She was doing really critical work, and I loved her suit!”103
Gwynne decided right then and there that she too would be a mechanical engineer. And she did it: Her first job out of college was working as a mechanical engineer for Chrysler Motors.
Today Gwynne is the president of SpaceX. If you watch SpaceX’s launches, you can often spy Gwynne jumping out of her chair when there is a successful launch!
TAKE AWAY THE ARMOR: What is it like to work for Elon for more than sixteen years? Gwynne spelled it out in her TED Talk. “He’s funny, and fundamentally, without him saying anything, he drives you to do your best work. He doesn’t have to say a word. You just want to do great work,”104 she said, adding that she loves working with him.