Virgin Galactic has completed assembly of its Apeiron spaceship at its Arizona factory in Mesa and transported the aircraft to the company’s operations base at Spaceport America in New Mexico, where it will undergo testing prior to a commercial launch next year.
Virgin Galactic’s (NYSE: SPCE) Apeiron departed Wednesday from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on a captive-carry flight with the company’s launch vehicle, Eve, a custom-built, dual-fuselage aircraft and air launch platform.
“The arrival of our lead spaceship at Spaceport America will be an enormous milestone in a years-long journey to build the world’s first human spaceship platform designed for regular commercial spaceflight,” Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said. “The ship is magnificent and we are thrilled to introduce it to the world later this week.”
With Apeiron now at Spaceport America in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic’s engineering team plans to complete avionics software integration and validation while conducting flight test preparations, according to the company.
Apeiron is Virgin Galactic’s lead next-generation Delta-class spaceship, produced in partnership with major aerospace suppliers. Designed to fly twice per week with a vehicle lifetime of more than 500 missions, each spaceship in the next-generation fleet is built to support the “economics of a scaled commercial operation, with increased flight cadence and a cost profile unprecedented in the industry,” according to the company.
