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Space tourists and citizen astronauts rejoice! A new suborbital spacecraft is about to be introduced that will fly ticketholders on brief, suborbital journeys just above Earth.
Virgin Galactic plans to unveil its first Delta-class spaceship on Wednesday (Oct. 28), before transporting the spacecraft from Mesa, Arizona, to Spaceport America in New Mexico. Alongside that reveal, the company will also announce the spacecraft’s name, selected through a public vote held across more than 80 countries.
Following its debut, the Delta-class vehicle will journey to the spaceport attached to Virgin Galactic’s VMS Eve carrier aircraft, marking a transition from assembly to the beginning of official flight testing. “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,” said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier in a statement.
Virgin Galactic is targeting mid-2027 for the spacecraft’s first commercial spaceflight. Simultaneously, the company is also working on a second Delta-class vehicle, which it hopes to enter into service before the end of next year. And, with the first Delta vehicle leaving the nest, the company’s Mesa factory is shifting focus to the completion of the second which will lead to structural testing and preparations for its rocket engine assembly.
Virgin Galactic announced its Delta manufacturing plans in 2022, initially anticipating research flights to begin in late 2025 and passenger service in 2026. Those plans have since run into multiple delays. The company said its revised schedule allows for the additional time needed to integrate and validate the spacecraft’s avionics software, with final testing to take place at Spaceport America.
Its Delta vehicle will replace Virgin’s earlier spaceplane model, VSS Unity, which began operations in June 2023, and completed seven commercial missions before its final flight on June 8, 2024. Virgin suspended Unity’s commercial flights to concentrate on developing the next-generation fleet, which is designed to carry more passengers and fly considerably more frequently.
Each Delta-class vehicle is equipped to accommodate up to six passengers, compared with Unity’s four, and is expected to complete as many as eight spaceflights per month — more than 10 times the rate Virgin was flying Unity.
When Virgin Galactic began selling seats aboard its planned spaceplane in 2004, tickets cost about $200,000 apiece. By 2014, nearly 700 people had reserved spots on future flights. Now, more than 100 of those future space travelers are beginning their initial preparations, with additional ticketholders expected to follow as the company works toward operating two spaceships by the second half of 2027.
Virgin Galactic plans to share live updates during Wednesday’s transport flight, weather and technical conditions permitting, and provide further details about its upcoming flight tests during its November earnings call.
