SpaceX CEO Musk Predicts New 'Alien' Ship [Video]

We've now entered an age of space craft design that no one has gone before.

That's the latest from Elon Musk, the visionary CEO of private space transportation company SpaceX, which just saw the successful completion of its latest cargo mission to the orbiting International Space Station.

During a press conference after the return of the company's Dragon supply ship, Musk stole headlines with his prediction the next-generation Dragon 2 craft will look like "a real alien spaceship" and have the capability of land touchdowns under its own propulsion.

Of course, Grasshopper - another SpaceX rocket --- has already demonstrated the ability to vertically launch as well as land during testing flights. The revolutionary craft recently took its farthest leap yet, climbing to 80 meters, or 262 feet, and then safely touching down safely on its feet, back on land. (See a video of Grasshopper's latest test below.)

Musk also said at the briefing, as reported by Extreme Tech, that SpaceX will try landing its Falcon 9 rocket in water later this year.

Currently, the first and second stages of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle fall into the ocean after launch. But, SpaceX wants to see both stages of the rocket land gently back on Earth and be reusable in "single-digit hours."

During a water landing, the first stage of the Falcon 9 would detach and begin dropping back to Earth, but then perform a controlled burn to bring the rocket slowly down into the ocean.

After SpaceX has run through that process several times successfully, the focus will then shift to navigating the first stage back to its launch site, Musk reportedly said.

All those breakthrough events could happen by the middle of next year.

Other media reports reported Musk indicating at the press briefing that the Dragon 2 would sport larger windows for astronauts to see outside, "landing legs that pop out of the bottom" and "side-mounted thruster pods" to allow for propulsive landings on land.

SpaceX had previously told of a DragonRider project, which would be a manned craft.

Musk did not announce a specific timeline for the first powered touchdown tests, only that the Dragon 2 would be officially announced later this year.