“… Musk also saved money by questioning requirements. … Why should building a couple of cranes for lifting the Falcon 9 cost $2,000,000? He was shown all the Air Force safety requirements.
In the end, SpaceX convinced the military to review the requirements, and the cranes ended up costing $300,000.
..In the rocket, a valve cost thirty times more than a similar valve in a car, so Musk constantly insisted that his team look for components from companies not tied to aerospace.
The latches used by NASA on the ISS cost $1500 each. An SpaceX engineer managed to modify a latch used in a restroom cabin and created a locking mechanism for $30.
When the engineer approached Musk’s office and told him that the air cooling system for the Falcon 9 cargo bay would cost over $3,000,000, he yelled to Gwynne Shotwell in the next office, asking how much a home air conditioning system costs. Around $6000, she said. Thus, the SpaceX team purchased several commercial air conditioners and modified their pumps to work on the rocket.
In the end, they built the launch complex at Cape Canaveral for 1/10th of the usual price
I love such stories 😉
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 