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Virgin Galactic Unveils First Delta-Class Spacecraft, Apeiron, for Suborbital Tourism
Key points
- Virgin Galactic unveiled its first Delta-class spacecraft, Apeiron.
- The spacecraft was rolled out onto a runway in Arizona.
- Apeiron is part of Virgin Galactic's next generation suborbital fleet.
- US space tourism has seen a 10-month hiatus in missions.
Space Tourism Landscape Shifts
The private space tourism sector has seen significant changes over the past five years. Blue Origin's New Shepard program paused after its last mission in January, with its engineering teams now supporting New Glenn and Blue Moon projects. SpaceX's Crew Dragon is phasing out its free-flyer missions, with its final one, Fram2, scheduled for April 2025, and no credible timeline for Starship human flights from Earth. Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity completed its final suborbital mission in June 2024.
A Hiatus in US Space Tourism
Currently, there has been a 10-month period without a space tourism mission in the United States. This follows the cessation of operations for the initial suborbital and orbital private space tourism programs from Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic's Next Generation
Virgin Galactic announced its transition to a second generation of suborbital spacecraft, the Delta-class ships, after Unity's final flight. The company had aimed to bring two of these ships into service by 2026. On Wednesday, the first Delta-class ship was named Apeiron, a name chosen through a public vote and derived from the ancient Greek concept of the boundless.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Virgin Galactic rolled out its first Delta-class suborbital spacecraft, named Apeiron, onto a runway in Arizona. This marks a step towards the company's next generation of space tourism vehicles, following a hiatus in US space tourism missions.