SpaceX shows off Dragon V2, its brand new manned space capsule

SpaceX's Dragon V2.

Megan Geuss

HAWTHORNE, CA—At an evening event in the SpaceX Headquarters on Thursday night, CEO and founder Elon Musk revealed the Dragon V2 space capsule, a next-generation version of SpaceX's current Dragon capsule that will be able to ferry up to seven crew members and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and eventually to other destinations. The capsule is reusable, and will be able to make a controlled landing "with the precision of a helicopter" upon re-entry.

The capsule, which has been in development for several years with help from NASA, will be a part of a new generation of commercial space shuttles since the US shuttered its own shuttle program in 2011. Currently, NASA pays Russia around $71 million a head to taxi astronauts to and from the ISS on Soyuz shuttles.

Tonight, Musk told the press that his company foresees being able to send astronauts to the ISS and back for around $20 million per seat.