Virgin Galactic is back in the spaceflight spotlight with the unveiling of a shiny new object: an updated Delta-class suborbital space plane with an exotic name.
More than two decades after SpaceShipOne won a $10 million X Prize for private spaceflight, Virgin Galactic ferried its third-generation rocket ship today from its factory in Mesa, Ariz., to its home base at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The spaceship was named Apeiron in an online contest that drew votes from more than 80 countries. Don’t pronounce the word like “ape-iron”; it’s actually “app-err-on,” as in the Greek word for “Boundless.”
“This morning, we gave Apeiron a name. This afternoon, Apeiron came home,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said.