SpaceX COO reveals 3 potential futures for the company, including space tourism and colonizing Mars.

SpaceX's COO intends to keep operations on Earth for the time being, despite founder Elon Musk's goal of eventually living on another planet.

"Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and COO, stated at Baron Capital's annual investment conference that she believes Elon Musk wants to retire on Mars but she is not interested in the planet. She added that she doesn't enjoy camping and believes it will be a long time before Mars is habitable, likely not in her lifetime."

Shotwell, like his boss, has grand visions for SpaceX, including accessible space travel, global satellite internet, and eventually interplanetary travel and living.

SpaceX has been a profitable investment for investors, despite not being a publicly traded company and not being required to post financial results.

Since starting to invest in 2017, we have made seven times our initial investment, according to Baron, who predicts that their shares will triple in value over the next five years.

Despite SpaceX's financial results being up and down over the years, a highly publicized test launch this week didn't go entirely as planned.

Baron and a packed auditorium of shareholders were eager to hear Shotwell's predictions about the future of her company. She shared three things she foresees.

1. Affordable space travel

SpaceX's latest innovation is its ability to "catch" and relaunch its rockets, which Shotwell believes could eventually drastically reduce the cost of going to space.

She stated that the objective of the work being done is to enable ordinary individuals to travel to space.

Shotwell stated that although she isn't currently considering Martian real estate, getting people to Mars and beyond is part of the company's long-term strategy.

"Our goal is for people to travel to other planets, visit the moon, and, ideally, our great grandchildren may be able to journey beyond our solar system in the future," she stated.

2. A chance for growth... and competition

SpaceX has surpassed its competitors in launching reusable Falcon rockets this year, with over 100 launches compared to the next closest competitor's dozen.

Currently, SpaceX's Starlink network has 7,000 satellites in orbit and serves approximately 5 million customers.

The market is enormous," Shotwell said, as these numbers demonstrated immense potential for growth. "We're currently serving around 5 million people, but there are almost 8 billion people on the planet.

Baron mentioned that around 30% of the 8 billion people lack broadband access. Shotwell replied that although she wishes SpaceX could cater to all of them, she anticipates intense competition, which is not necessarily negative.

"Isn't it great if others can keep up? Competition benefits industries by keeping us focused and tight," she remarked.

3. Reinvented regulation

Regulation is the one thing impeding SpaceX and other tech companies' rapid expansion, according to Shotwell.

"Regulator people are the hardest," she said, "while technology and physics are easy, and people are challenging."

Government regulations are intended to safeguard workers, consumers, and maintain fair industries, but Shotwell acknowledged this while expressing frustration with the speed and intricacy of government supervision.

"Regulation needs to be reinvented in all industries, and I wish I could spend more time working on regulatory issues instead of meeting with welders and building Starlinks and Starships," she said.

Shotwell's boss has been appointed to lead a new agency aimed at enhancing government efficiency. She did not mention whether changes to current regulatory frameworks would be implemented, but expressed optimism that a new administration could streamline some of the bureaucratic hurdles that are hindering her industry.

"The aim is to optimize regulatory organizations and regulations, not just speed up the process, but improve their effectiveness."

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