ELON MUSK: "I think I'll characterize this as a very good day for SpaceX. We successfully reached space and really retired almost all the risk associated with the rocket. So I feel very good about where things are.

ELON MUSK: "I feel extremely good about having successful satellite launches later this year, especially when I know we've got two satellite launches lined up for later this year -- one is a Defense Department satellite and the other a Malaysian space agency satellite. We've been in touch with our customers. They are very excited by the results of this test, and so we feel really good actually.

ELON MUSK: "The things we were most concerned about were the first stage ignition and liftoff, the trajectory, the first stage because that goes through the most difficult portion of the atmosphere where you can have high winds and potentially go unstable or potentially have a structural problem and that went flawlessly. We had zero anomalies whatsoever on the first stage.

ELON MUSK: "Stage separation also went very well. Separation events are the No. 2 killer of rockets after engine issues. Both the stage separation and fairing separation went flawlessly. Second stage ignition also was perfect, and we achieved steady state burn on the second stage.

ELON MUSK: "We did encounter, late in the second stage burn, a roll-control anomaly, which you may have seen on the video webcast. We feel that is something that's pretty straightforward to address. So all in all we feel pretty good about this launch.

ELON MUSK: "This was a test launch, which I think most people are aware. So, yes, I think it was a pretty good test."

QUESTION: What is the fate of the second stage?

ELON MUSK: "We didn't achieve the desired orbit. But at this point I don't exactly know the fate of the second stage. We got to 300 km. That's about all I know at this point."

ELON MUSK: "All that I can say for sure right now is it's not in the intended orbit. The likelihood is that it re-entered after probably half an orbit or so. We had planned to pick up the first stage, and if all went according to plan the first stage should currently be floating around the pacific ocean, with the recovery ship in persuit."

ELON MUSK: "The roll-control anomaly did cause the second stage to shut off prematurely. So that's not achieving the intended orbit. However, I would say we've retired probably in excess of 90 percent of risk associated with the rocket. And it is worth noting, this was a test launch not a satellite launch."

QUESTION: Was the second stage intact when it re-entered?

ELON MUSK: "I don't know quite yet. The stage was certainly intact at the loss of telemetry."

QUESTION: Could the stage have fallen in a populated area?

ELON MUSK: "No. One of the advantages of being at (Kwajalein) is it's ocean for thousands and thousands of miles."

QUESTION: How disappointed are you?

ELON MUSK: "This was a pretty nerve-wracking day, to say the least...The rocket business is definitely not a low-stress business, that's for sure. I don't think I'm disappointed actually. I'm actually pretty happy, so I'm sorry if I'm not conveying that...It definitely could have gone a little better today, but if we've retired almost all the risk associated with the rocket, I think it is hard to characterize that (as) anything but a success, at least in my book, because this is a test launch of the rocket and not a satellite launch. I think if it had been a satellite launch, you know, one could perhaps argue differently. But in terms of it being a test launch, the question being have we...learned essentially everything we need know to deliver a satellite successfully to orbit, I think the answer is absolutely. We've learned everything we need to know to deliver a satellite successfully to orbit."

QUESTION: Was the loss of telemetry associated with the roll-control problem?

ELON MUSK: "It is very speculative at this point. It is hard for me to say. I think that is a possible cause."

QUESTION: What was the debris seen floating away from the second stage engine?

ELON MUSK: "What you might have seen was basically titanium half-hoops that are used to stabilize the nozzle on ascent. However, once you get to a certain temperature the bonding agent for those titanium rings comes off and the titanium rings float away, which occurred as expected."

QUESTION: Do you expect to fly another test flight before starting operational launches?

ELON MUSK: "We feel that is really no need for an extra test flight...We really retired all of the major risk events, the ones we were most concerned about. So I really doubt there is any need for a third test flight. The next flight will be the TacSat mission, which is a Naval Research Lab satellite funded by the Office of Secretary of Defense. I don't anticipate another test launch before that mission."

QUESTION: Have you received assurances from both customers for this year -- TacSat and the Malaysian RazakSat spacecraft?

ELON MUSK: "I believe so. Certainly from RazakSat, and the TacSat folks have been on record before as saying no matter what happened to our second launch they were with us. So I assume that remains the same."

QUESTION: It looks like you went rhough quite a bit of rain on the way up. Was it raining on the ground at launch time? Is there any suspicion that that may have contributed to the problems later on?

ELON MUSK: It was not raining on the ground. the water you saw was water in the clouds. "it demonstrated that a flight through rain is not an issue." "I think it is unlikley to have contributed to any issues."

QUESTION: It looked like after the fairing sep there was some debris floating around.

ELON MUSK: What you might have seen...there are some titanium half-loops used to stabelize the nozzel on ascent. The bonding agent comes off once you start the engine, and the titanium loops fall away, which occurred as expected.

QUESTION: What caused the roll oscillations?

ELON MUSK: "I can speculate there are a few possible causes. It is could be a helium leak or it could be...we have a cold gas roll-control system, it could be that there was a problem with one of the roll-control jets. But it is difficult to say anything definitive until we have a close look at the telemetry...The only thing we can say definitely at this point is that there was a roll anomaly on the second that resulted in us not achieving the intended orbit and, like I said, not likely a full orbit. However, that is fairly easy thing to address. Certainly if it is a leak issue we'll go over and make sure any potential leaks are addressed in spades. If it's roll-control cold gas thrusters, I think that would be a very easy thing to address as well. Of the possible causes, I think there's very few that would really take much effort to address."

QUESTION: Will the telemetry tell you enough to give you confidence for next launch with real payload?

ELON MUSK: "I think so. It is hard to predict right now but I find it difficult to imagine a circumstance where it wouldn't, where we wouldn't know enough. What we will do at this point is if the telemetry is ambiguous as to a source of the issue, we'll identify all of the possible sources and address all possible sources."


QUESTION: Why would rolling cause premature engine shutdown?

ELON MUSK: "If you have a significant roll, what could happen is that the propellants can centrifuge out.

QUESTION: What is the significance of today's launch?

ELON MUSK: "I think it's really a big step forward for SpaceX. It gives me great confidence in our upcoming launches. Another thing to bear in mind, Falcon 1 is intended as a scale model, a test vehicle of our larger rockets. As we iron things out on Falcon 1, we're really going to put that knowledge to work on Falcon 9."

QUESTION: What is your final thought for cost?

ELON MUSK: I've always ultimately wanted to reduce the cost by a factor of 10. The next lowest cost US launch vehicle from a Falcon 1 is the Pegasus by Orbital sciences, which is about $35 million, while Falcon 1 is about $7 million, so we are 5 times cheaper than I nearest competitor.

QUESTION: What is realistic aspiration for SpaceX some 10 years from now?

"I feel very confident 10 years from we can be putting both satellites and people into orbit, and maybe beyond (Earth) orbit. I feel very confident in the future of commercial spaceflight, private spaceflight and I think this bodes very well actually for achieving some of the goals I mentioned. It is really an excellent indicator that a small company can achieve great things....We had what I would call a relatively minor issue with the roll-control very late in the flight. But all the really big risk items, the ones we were most concerned, have been addressed. If you look at the early history of rocketry, I think they had something like 12 Atlas failures before the 13th one was success. To get this far on our second launch being an all-new rocket -- new main engine, new first stage, new second stage engine, new second stage, new fairing, new launch pad system, with so many new things -- to have gotten this far is great."