There's an exciting new update on the SpaceX website. Here are some highlights, and the emphasis is mine. They're starting to drop hints as to the nature of their BFR design...:

" The past four months have been focused on thoroughly testing all aspects of the vehicle, which will continue right up until we launch in a few months... Having seen us go through the wringer to make this work (and it’s not over yet), I have a lot of respect for anyone that has tried to develop a serious launch vehicle."

"I am increasingly confident of the reusability of the Falcon I first stage. We will soon exceed 200 cryogenic pressure cycles on the first stage tank mounted in Vertical Test Stand 1 in Texas and there are no signs of fatigue... I am quite confident at this point that Falcon I will not only be majority reusable, assuming the parachute opens, but that the economics will work out such that we may be able to make a modest reduction in price from the current $5.9M, which assumes no reusability value."

"The good news is that we are done with core development and have a solid [main stage] engine. After a lot of difficult development work, several component redesigns and the occasional RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly), the flight engine, including our turbopump, combustion chamber, injector manifold, valves and controls, is working... The next major engine development for SpaceX is the Merlin 2, where we will aim for a significant increase in thrust and chamber pressure. Merlin 2 will serve as an exact scale version of the F-1 class (>1,500,000 lb thrust) engine we intend to start developing in a few years."

"Launch infrastructure – Most of our Vandenberg and Kwajalein construction and ground support equipment allow for launch of both Falcon I and Falcon V." [Note: am I the only person who hadn't caught the fact that they were building a launch site in the Marshall Islands? -- NK]

" For Falcon V stage hold down testing, we will be using our large structural test stand (VTS-3) [Note: this is the old Beal test stand -- NK]. This is rated for up to 3 million pounds of thrust and, if all goes well, we will one day use most of that capacity :)"

" For Falcon V, as part of the human rating of the vehicle, we are developing a triple redundant flight computer..."