A brand-new kind of spacecraft built for space tourists has taken to the skies for the first time, carried beneath the wings of a special aircraft over the United States.
The space plane, named Apeiron, is Virgin Galactic’s newest “Delta-class” vehicle. On Thursday, it flew attached underneath its carrier plane, VMS Eve, all the way from the factory in Mesa, Arizona, to its launch site at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
It did not fly on its own yet. This kind of test flight, called a captive carry, lets engineers check everything is working before the space plane is dropped and lights its own rocket motor for the first time.
Once it is fully tested, Apeiron is expected to begin carrying paying passengers into space from around spring 2027. On a real flight, the carrier plane will lift the space plane to about 13,700 metres before releasing it, so it can rocket up into suborbital space — high enough for passengers to feel a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curve of the Earth.
Virgin Galactic boss Michael Colglazier said it was an exciting moment for the company. “Seeing the ship fly beneath Eve to Spaceport America was a moment years in the making,” he said.
Nearly 700 people have already booked tickets to fly on future trips.
Māori Version
He Waka Rererangi Mokowhiti Hou Kua Rere Tuatahi
Kua rere tuatahi tētahi momo waka rererangi hou, i hangaia mō ngā kaihaerere mokowhiti, e piri ana ki raro i ngā parirau o tētahi waka rererangi motuhake i runga i te United States.
Ko te waka rererangi, e kīia nei ko Apeiron, te waka hou rawa atu “Delta-class” a Virgin Galactic. I te Rāpare, i rere ia e piri ana ki raro i tana waka kawe, ko VMS Eve, mai i te wheketere i Mesa, Arizona, tae noa ki tōna papa rere i Spaceport America i New Mexico.
Kāore anō kia rere kē ia. Ko tēnei momo rere whakamātau, e kīia nei ko te “captive carry”, ka tukuna ki ngā kaimīhini kia tirohia katoa kei te pai te mahi i mua i te tukunga o te waka rererangi me tana whakakā tuatahi i tōna anō miihini pupuhi.
Ka oti pai te whakamātau, ka tīmata a Apeiron ki te kawe i ngā kaihaere e utu ana ki te mokowhiti mai i te pūtake o te tau 2027. I tētahi rerenga tūturu, ka hiki te waka kawe i te waka rererangi ki te tiketike tata ki te 13,700 mita i mua i te tuku, kia rere ake ai ki te mokowhiti whāiti — he tiketike e taea ai e ngā kaihaere te rongo i te kore-taumaha mō ētahi meneti, me te kite i te porowhita o te Ao.
I kī te tumuaki o Virgin Galactic, a Michael Colglazier, he wā whakahirahira tēnei mō te kamupene. “He wā i mahia mō ngā tau te kite i te waka e rere ana i raro i a Eve ki Spaceport America,” tāna i kī.
Tata ki te 700 tāngata kē kua tuhi i tā rātou tīkiti mō ngā rerenga ā muri ake nei.
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