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Meet Apeiron, Virgin Galactic's 1st 'Delta-class' space plane
Space • • business
Key Points:
- Virgin Galactic unveiled its first next-generation Delta-class space plane, named Spaceship Apeiron, chosen through a public vote involving thousands from 83 countries.
- Apeiron, meaning "boundless" in ancient Greek, will be flown from Mesa, Arizona, to Spaceport America in New Mexico for final preparations before flight tests.
- The new Delta-class vehicle replaces the earlier VSS Unity, which completed seven suborbital missions before being retired to focus on Apeiron's development, with customer flights expected to resume by mid-2027.
- Virgin Galactic plans to operate each Delta-class space plane up to eight times monthly, with a second vehicle under construction and about 675 ticket holders awaiting flights priced currently at $850,000 per seat.
- Apeiron and future Delta-class vehicles will conduct short suborbital flights crossing the Karman line, providing passengers with minutes of weightlessness and Earth views; more flight test details will be shared in the November earnings call.
