CEO Elon Musk Says This Is the Most Underappreciated Part of SpaceX's Business

SpaceX includes several businesses, including the launch business, Starlink, and the broad artificial intelligence division.

Musk sees another AI-driven technology eventually being a big part of the company.

Space Exploration Technologies ' (NASDAQ: SPCX) second-quarter earnings have come and gone, sparking much intrigue among investors.

SpaceX posted strong revenue growth and a narrowing of its operating loss compared with past quarters. However, huge capital expenditures of roughly $18.4 billion in the quarter drove the stock down during the day following earnings.

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Still, much of the interest beyond the numbers came from SpaceX's earnings call where Wall Street analysts sought further insights into the company's future from CEO Elon Musk and the rest of the senior management team. Among other tidbits, Musk said this could be the most underappreciated part of SpaceX's business.

What SpaceX has already accomplished is a tremendous technological achievement, whether you think about what the company is doing with artificial intelligence or its low earth orbit satellite internet network, Starlink.

But if you've read SpaceX's registration statement, the company has even greater ambitions that seem straight out of a science fiction novel or television show. For instance, Musk's compensation package and incentives are partly tied to efforts such as establishing large-scale settlements on Mars and mining asteroids.