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SpaceX is irrevocably on a path to a much larger craft called “BFR” or the more family-friendly “Starship”. This is intended to have all of the features that Falcon and Dragon are not getting. They developed a staged-combustion full-flow engine to fly it. This is more powerful than other engines, and around twice as complicated, as there is a fuel-rich and an oxidizer-rich pre-combustion stage, each with its own turbopump. This recently flew on the hopper prototype in Boca Chica, Texas. However, it avoids pumping fuel and oxidizer on the same shaft, as all conventional liquid-fueled rockets do today, which requires a lot of the seal between them.
This was the first flight of that sort of engine not to end in explosion since 1969, when the Russian N1, their answer to the Saturn V, failed 23 seconds after lift-off, causing one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.
Despite this entire project looking far-fetched and being carried out in an unconventional way (construction of major components outdoors, a low-fidelity prototype that could have been a water tower, but flew), they have made tremendous progress. SpaceX and Musk make very ambitious bets, and carry them out, which appears to have been missing from other space efforts.
I understated. It was the first flight of that engine type ever which did not end in explosion. I think only three design attempts have even made it to a test stand.