CCST meets three times a year. These meetings inform state leaders about CCST's ongoing projects and initiatives and focus attention on other S&T related issues. Visitors and guests include heads of state agencies, Legislators, and leading experts from a variety of scientific and technological disciplines. Each meeting features speakers who are experts in their field.
The dinner speaker at the October 2009 CCST meeting was Elon Musk. Musk is the founder,
CEO and CTO of SpaceX, a company that is creating a new model - to develop launch vehicles that will
ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of space access and re-ignite humanity's
efforts to explore and develop space. In 2006, SpaceX won the NASA contract to design, build and
demonstrate operation of a commercial replacement for the Space Shuttle, which retires in 2010. The
SpaceX Falcon 1 was the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit.
Musk is also the CEO & product architect of Tesla Motors, where he has overseen product development
and design of the all electric Tesla Roadster and Model S sedan, and the chairman and principal
shareholder of SolarCity, the leading provider of solar power systems in California.
Prior to SpaceX, Elon co-founded PayPal, the world's leading Internet payment system, and served as
the company's chairman and CEO.
Updated 10/11/09
