Virgin Galactic Unveils Apeiron, First Delta-Class Spaceship

Virgin Galactic has unveiled the first spaceship of its new Delta class and named it Apeiron, following a public vote that drew thousands of participants from 83 countries across six continents.

The company is targeting the start of commercial flights aboard Apeiron in the second quarter of 2027, once technical testing is complete. A second Delta-class vehicle is expected to enter commercial service in late Q2 or early Q3 of the same year.

A Greek name for the "limitless"

Apeiron was chosen from four finalists, alongside Horizon, Explorer and Ascend. The shortlist came from 276 suggestions submitted by Virgin Galactic employees before the public vote opened. The name comes from an ancient Greek concept meaning "limitless", a nod to what space exploration offers humanity.

CEO Mike Moses was not named in the material; the company's chief executive, Michael Colglazier, said the name reflects the ambitions of human spaceflight and the opportunities it opens up, adding that the broad turnout made the choice more meaningful.

On to New Mexico for flight tests

The spaceship was carried from the company's spacecraft manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, to its operating base at Spaceport America in New Mexico aboard the Eve carrier aircraft. The move shifts the vehicle from manufacturing to flight-test preparation. Engineers will finish integrating and verifying the avionics software before flight testing begins.

Bigger cabin, higher cadence

Delta-class ships are designed to carry up to six passengers per flight, compared with four on the earlier VSS Unity. Virgin Galactic aims to fly each vehicle up to twice a week, which would significantly raise flight volume over the previous generation.

The company is betting that the new design will simplify manufacturing and maintenance, raise utilization and support a more scalable business. It is building the second Delta ship in parallel and setting up an assembly line for rocket motors ahead of fleet expansion in 2027.

Like its predecessors, Apeiron is built for short suborbital hops and cannot reach Earth orbit.