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Gwynne Shotwell

President & Chief Operating Officer (COO), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Search every verified Gwynne Shotwell interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, appeared on a September 2026 podcast with Elon Musk, discussing topics including AI risks, Starship timelines, and the working relationship between the two executives. During the conversation, she said she expects people to land on Mars within a decade and expressed disappointment if there were not a settlement on the Moon. She also commented on SpaceX's early history, stating that the company "should never have existed" if incumbent launch providers had offered better service and pricing, and recounted early days at the company's Starbase facility. On SpaceX's Q2 2026 earnings call in August, Shotwell said the company is "quite bullish" on its enterprise activities, noting it had received over $6 billion in government contracts and that enterprise revenue is "quite sticky," with the company never having lost an enterprise customer. She also discussed plans to begin flying the next generation Starlink mobile satellite next year, and said that robotics tied to AI, such as for autos and humanoid robots, will "dramatically increase the demand for connectivity."

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“So, uh, it will come from I would say the answer to the above is is yes. I don't think we're going to, you know, we're I don't think we're going to release any more stock. And by the way, I don't plan on making any news on this. Um, but it will be all of the above. and Starlink I mean is Starlink in your view kind of the core cash generation engine for the next couple of years for the business or is it compute or is ”

“There is no one that can run this company other than Elon, frankly. I We want Elon to have that kind of control. He's incredible. I think he's the best CEO. He's certainly the best CEO of today and he's probably the best CEO in history. In my opinion. Humble opinion.”

“We've been feeling over the last few years a lot of pressure from everyday Americans and and our friends that wanted to buy stock and there was just no way for these folks to get in. Unfortunately, probably some got scammed, uh but there was no way to buy SpaceX stock. And it feels like a company that, you know, great people should be able to own a piece of.”

“There is no one that can run this company other than Elon, frankly. We want Elon to have that kind of control. He's incredible. I think he's the best CEO. He's certainly the best CEO of today, and he's probably the best CEO in history. In my opinion. Humble opinion.”

“That is actually a great way to think about it, and I'd love to reframe it as well. So, yes, we are building data centers here on Earth, but the most efficient place to put inference compute is on orbit. It's always sunny in space. You get 6x the amount of power out of a solar cell in space as you do here on Earth, and cooling is free. Because space is actually quite cold, so radiative cooling is free.”

“I don't think companies should be involved directly in warfare. That is a nation state thing. And if a commercial company has a product that is going to be used in that way then it's up to my government to say okay let me buy that and I'll give it to these guys or let me buy that I'll use it over here but I don't think commercial companies should be in the middle of a battle.”

Other executives at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

  • Elon Musk, Founder, CEO, Chief Technology Officer & Board Chair

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