Virgin Galactic unveiled its new Delta-class spaceship Apeiron and announced another delay, pushing its first commercial spaceflight to early Q2 2027 as it completes avionics software validation at Spaceport America.
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Virgin Galactic's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCEyPCvYctQ">new spaceship</a> is here, dubbed <a href="https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/virgin-galactic-unveils-spaceship-apeiron">"Apeiron"</a> by popular vote from <a href="https://www.theverge.com/science/979755/heres-your-chance-to-name-a-spaceship-something-prescreened-and-dull">a public poll</a>. Apeiron is the first of the company's new Delta-class spacecraft, but it isn't slated to launch for nearly another year. Earlier this week, Virgin Galactic <a href="https://investors.virgingalactic.com/news/news-details/2026/Virgin-Galactic-Sets-October-28-for-Lead-Delta-Class-Spaceships-Arrival-at-Spaceport-America-Marking-Start-of-Flight-Test-Preparations/default.aspx">announced another delay</a> in its launch timeline:</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The lead Spaceship's first commercial spaceflight is now expected in early Q2 2027, and the second Spaceship is expected to begin commercial spaceflight operations in late Q2/early Q3 2027. The updated timeline reflects additional time for completing avionics software integration and validation, which uses an exhaustive testing process. That testi …</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/science/1020607/virgin-galactic-apeiron-2027-commercial-spaceflight">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# Here’s Virgin Galactic’s new Apeiron spaceship
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/science/1020607/virgin-galactic-apeiron-2027-commercial-spaceflight](https://www.theverge.com/science/1020607/virgin-galactic-apeiron-2027-commercial-spaceflight)
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Virgin Galactic plans to launch Apeiron in mid\-2027, over two years after its last commercial spaceflight\.
Virgin Galactic plans to launch Apeiron in mid\-2027, over two years after its last commercial spaceflight\.
by
Oct 28, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
Image: Virgin Galactic
[](https://www.theverge.com/authors/stevie-bonifield)
Stevie Bonifield
is a news writer covering all things consumer tech\. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI\.
Virgin Galactic’s[new spaceship](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCEyPCvYctQ)is here, dubbed[“Apeiron”](https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/virgin-galactic-unveils-spaceship-apeiron)by popular vote from[a public poll](https://www.theverge.com/science/979755/heres-your-chance-to-name-a-spaceship-something-prescreened-and-dull)\. Apeiron is the first of the company’s new Delta\-class spacecraft, but it isn’t slated to launch for nearly another year\. Earlier this week, Virgin Galactic[announced another delay](https://investors.virgingalactic.com/news/news-details/2026/Virgin-Galactic-Sets-October-28-for-Lead-Delta-Class-Spaceships-Arrival-at-Spaceport-America-Marking-Start-of-Flight-Test-Preparations/default.aspx)in its launch timeline:
> The lead Spaceship’s first commercial spaceflight is now expected in early Q2 2027, and the second Spaceship is expected to begin commercial spaceflight operations in late Q2/early Q3 2027\. The updated timeline reflects additional time for completing avionics software integration and validation, which uses an exhaustive testing process\. That testing will conclude at Spaceport America as the lead Spaceship is readied for its flight test series\.
Virgin Galactic had[previously delayed](https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/virgin-galactic-delays-next-commercial-spaceflight-to-2027)its next commercial spaceflight to February 2027, rather than late 2026\. It’s now been over two years since Virgin Galactic’s[last commercial spaceflight](https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-07-final-vss-unity-commercial-spaceflight)in June 2024, when it retired its VSS Unity spacecraft\. Apeiron is leaving Virgin Galactic’s Mesa, Arizona Spaceship Factory on Wednesday onboard a captive\-carry flight with its Eve launch vehicle, heading to Spaceport America in New Mexico, where Virgin Galactic says its “engineering team plans to complete avionics software validation before beginning flight tests\.”
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- Stevie Bonifield
## The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.
Virgin Galactic's lead Delta-class spaceship, Apeiron, has rolled out of its Mesa, Arizona factory and is being transported to Spaceport America for final avionics work and testing, with the company targeting an early Q2 2027 first commercial suborbital flight amid investor skepticism.
Virgin Galactic is asking the public to vote on a name for its new Delta-class spaceship, with options including Horizon, Explorer, Ascend, and Apeiron. The article also reviews the history of its previous spacecraft names like Enterprise, Unity, Imagine, and Inspire.
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