The future of space travel will depend on our ability to make rockets that can be used more than once , says SpaceX CEO Elon Musk . And on Saturday , he gave a crowd at the South by Southwest Interactive festival the world 's first look at a step in that direction . Musk , whose SpaceX Dragon is currently docked on the International Space Station , showed a packed exhibit hall a two-day-old video of Grasshopper , an experimental rocket . If fully realized , the rocket would propel spacecraft out of the earth 's atmosphere , then flip around , sprout landing gear and return intact to the launch pad . In the video , a 10-story-high Grasshopper rocket did just that -- except for the leaving-the-atmosphere part . It blasted off , hovered , and then set itself down at virtually the same spot where it began . The video , with its Johnny Cash `` Ring of Fire '' soundtrack , drew cheers from the crowd . Friday was n't the first time Grasshopper has left the ground , but it was the most ambitious test to date , Musk said . `` With each successive test , we want to go higher and further , '' he said . Musk , a festival keynote speaker , made his fortune as the founder of Paypal . From there , he 's taken on private spaceflight as CEO of SpaceX , electric vehicles as CEO and chief designer of Tesla Motors , and solar energy as chairman of Solar City . `` Elon may be the planet 's most exciting entrepreneur , '' said SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest . Historic launch of private rocket heralds new era . During a question-and-answer session with `` 3D Robotics '' editor-in-chief Chris Anderson , Musk said that affordable commercial space travel will never be possible with the current model , which relies on single-use booster rockets . `` Every mode of transportation we 're used to ... they 're all reusable , but not rockets , '' Musk said . `` If we ca n't make rockets reusable , the cost is just prohibitive . '' He said a reusable rocket could make space launches 100 times cheaper . The price of fuel , oxygen and the like for a launch currently amounts to just a fraction of 1 % of its overall cost , he said . Musk also recounted the stressful moments around last week 's launch of the unmanned Dragon cargo vessel , which linked up with the Space Station last Sunday . `` It 's extremely nerve-wracking , '' he said . `` The thing about a rocket launch is that all your work is distilled into these few minutes , especially the few seconds before liftoff . '' The Dragon mission had some extra nail-biting moments . Once in space , three of its four thruster pods malfunctioned . Engineers were able to write new code and beam it to the capsule and `` pressure slam '' oxygen into tanks that had failed to oxidize . `` We were sort of trying to give it the spacecraft equivalent of the Heimlich maneuver , '' he said . `` It was hardcore . I do n't want to go through that again . '' Musk also confirmed that , while he 's in Texas , he 's meeting with state lawmakers about the possibility of building a commercial launch site in the state . Currently , SpaceX -- which both works alongside NASA and counts the agency among its clients -- launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California , which are both government sites . Musk said Texas is the leading candidate for the launch site and that , if things go smoothly , construction could begin as early as next year .
Elon Musk : Commercial space flight wo n't be affordable without reusable rockets . CEO of SpaceX gives keynote at South by Southwest Interactive festival . Comment: Musk also is CEO and chief designer at Tesla Motors , maker of electric cars .