SpaceX founder Elon Musk has revealed two innovations that should make launch vehicles truly reusable.

The first involves outfitting the Falcon 9 with four wings or "hypersonic grid fins" that will help improve Falcon's stability as it performs a soft landing after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

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The second innovation is sea vessel called a "drone landing ship" that could be used as launching pads for Falcon 9 or other reusable spacecraft, and also for refueling and maintenance.

This X-wing configuration will make the Falcon 9 rocket reusable. As Falcon 9 descends after orbiting its payload, it will deploy its X-wings to stabilize its trajectory just before the engines again ignite to slow it.

This is where the drone landing ship comes in. SpaceX is testing this autonomous drone ship as a safe platform for rockets to land on and refuel safely, far away from cities. Musk claims his drone ship can maintain its position within three meters in a storm.

Space travel is a costly enterprise and Musk hopes these strategies will significantly help reduce these costs by relying more on reusability and efficiency. Launch vehicles, especially those used by SpaceX, involve multistage rocket stages.

With the use of X-wings and a drone landing ship, rockets such as the Falcon 9 will become truly reusable.

NASA previously already attempted a landing with its space shuttle orbiter but time constraints and costly fuel prevented from taking place. SpaceX may be leaving older space companies behind with these innovations.

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