The landscape of private space tourism has slowed down significantly in recent years across the United States. While companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic previously flew private citizens on suborbital and orbital missions, active space tourism flights have currently paused for nearly a year.
The Current Lull in Private Space Missions
Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft last flew a mission in January, marking 10 months since its last flight. The program subsequently entered a pause as engineering teams shifted their focus toward supporting the New Glenn rocket and Blue Moon lander programs.
Meanwhile, SpaceX completed its final free-flyer mission on the Dragon spacecraft, known as Fram2, in April 2025. Although a few non-NASA missions heading to space stations remain on the manifest, they are expected to carry at least one government astronaut before the Dragon spacecraft is eventually retired. There remains no reliable timeline for SpaceX’s Starship to transport humans into space from Earth.
Virgin Galactic also concluded operations for its previous generation of suborbital vehicles, with the VSS Unity spacecraft flying its final mission over two years ago in June 2024.
Introducing the Apeiron Spaceship
Following the final flight of VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic announced plans to transition to a second generation of suborbital spacecraft known as Delta-class ships, initially targeting service by 2026. Although those vehicles are not yet in service, the company revealed the name of its first Delta-class ship as Apeiron.
The name was selected through a public vote and draws inspiration from the ancient Greek concept of the boundless. Virgin Galactic noted the choice in its news release, introducing the new vehicle as it prepares for future milestones.
