SpaceX to Unveil Manned Dragon V2 Spacecraft Tonight (WATCH)

May 29, 2014 10:04 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will unveil the first-ever manned Dragon spacecraft tonight at 7 p.m. PDT or 10 p.m. EDT during a live event at the company's California factory.

The capsule is a manned spacecraft, similar to the company's robotic cargo ship, according to SPACE.com.

The manned version has been called Dragon Version 2, or Dragon V2.

It was created to fly at least seven crew members into low-Earth orbit, according to SpaceX.

One major difference between the unmanned and manned Dragon ships is the addition of Draco thrusters on the crew capsule.

The thrusters serve as a launch abort system, according to SPACE.com.

Musk and the rest of Space-X hope to use the thrusters as a landing system for future ground landings of the manned Dragon capsule.

Past Dragon cargo ships have successfully delivered food and other supplies to the International Space Station three times since 2012.

NASA hopes the new vessel will be ready for manned missions by 2017 or 2018.

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