7 Ways SpaceX Will Get Us To Mars By 2018

7. Developing Reusable Rockets

In order to make the business of spaceships financially viable, they've got to be reusable. Just imagine if, every time you took a flight in an aeroplane, the whole craft went up in flames during landing - no one would ever fly.

Usually, a spacecraft's rockets will be used once, and will be jettisoned from the main payload once their fuel is used up, usually left to burn up in the atmosphere, go tumbling into the sea or become yet another bit of space junk. This, as you can imagine, is costly and prices pretty much everybody but NASA out of the space travel market.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, however, is a spacecraft designed for the 21st century (and is, in fact, the only spacecraft ever to be completely designed in the 21st century). Shortly after launch, the first stage of the craft will separate from the second stage and payload but, rather than be left to flounder in the atmosphere, it will land itself back on Earth ready to be used again.

This is seriously groundbreaking stuff that is set to change the face of space travel.