SpaceX has unveiled the spacecraft that CEO Elon Musk said will one day ferry up to seven astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS).

According to the Associated Press, Musk showed off the Dragon V2 spacecraft Thursday at the Southern California SpaceX headquarters. Musk said the new rocket will save the U.S. government money in transporting astronauts to and from the low-orbit space station.

"You can just reload, propel it and fly again," Musk told the AP. "This is extremely important for revolutionizing access to space because as long as we continue to throw away rockets and space crafts, we will never truly have access to space. It'll always be incredibly expensive."

Where other rockets burn up in the atmosphere after serving their purpose, Musk plans to make his V2 rocket reusable. SpaceX has already experienced success with such rockets, returning an unmanned craft to Earth after it completed a resupply mission to the ISS.

The V2 spacecraft also has parachutes and retractable legs that would be deployed when attempting to make a soft landing back on Earth. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are currently in the midst of individual contracts with NASA to perform resupply missions to the ISS.

"If an aircraft is thrown away with each flight, nobody will be able to fly or very few (can)," Musk said. "The same is true with rockets and spacecraft."

The AP reported the new Dragon V2 has a two-level seating system to accommodate seven astronauts (the ISS holds six crewmembers at a time) and has large windows through which the passengers would be able to gaze down on Earth during their trip. The craft is also equipped with improved heat shield, more powerful engines and a coned cap for docking.

The Washington Post reported political tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the world's leaders in the space industry, could eventually affect their reliance on each other for the ISS. Currently, the Russian space agency ferries all astronauts to and from, but sanctions from the U.S. over the country's conflict with Ukraine could change that.

However, Russia is more than happy to accept steep payments from the U.S. for rocket technology and to send NASA astronauts to the ISS. Musk's rocket should still help the U.S. become less reliant on Russia.

"It's essential to have our own capability to transport people to space," John Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, told the AP. "This is an important step in that direction."

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