Elon Musk wants to send people to Mars. But more than that, he wants people to know that SpaceX is going to get them there.
On Sep. 27 Elon Musk unveiled the next steps for his company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (better known as SpaceX), in its quest to make humans an “interplanetary species”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-outlines-plans-for-manned-missions-to-mars-1475011627
SpaceX has made great strides recently that show it is progressing in the right direction. It is still far behind its original projections, but this has not deterred Musk from continuing to look forward and promote his vision.
SpaceX is not the only privately held company that is pursuing these goals, but is arguably the most well known, and is indeed almost synonymous with the concept of private space exploration.
Musk knows that the end result is almost a given, so having it all figured out is less of a concern for him than being highly visible in the process. Getting their first is important, but pushing people to believe its possible, and letting them know that it was SpaceX that motivated the outcome is even more important. Even with its failures, SpaceX is creating brand leadership in a category that it is creating and defining.