--- title: Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space... description: Startup Cowboy Space revealed specs for a new medium-lift rocket called Big Iron, though it has little hardware to show yet. Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-winter-is-coming-for-themis-cowboy-space-adds-iron-to-the-fire-wukdzqhdb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire | daily.dev og:description: Startup Cowboy Space revealed specs for a new medium-lift rocket called Big Iron, though it has little hardware to show yet. Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-winter-is-coming-for-themis-cowboy-space-adds-iron-to-the-fire-wukdzqhdb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/WuKdzQhDb.png og:image:alt: Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire **[Ars Technica](https://daily.dev/sources/arstechnica)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Startup Cowboy Space revealed specs for a new medium-lift rocket called Big Iron, though it has little hardware to show yet. Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class rocket plane, named Apeiron, left its Arizona factory for Spaceport America to begin test campaigns. Remaining steps include avionics and flight software work, captive carry tests, a drop test, and a powered flight above 80 km. Virgin Galactic expects first commercial spaceflight in early Q2 2027, a date the source says should be taken with a grain of salt, and it is seen as possibly the only company with a realistic chance of flying paying passengers to space anytime soon. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the name of Virgin Galactic's new rocket plane and when will it fly commercially? Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class rocket plane is named Apeiron. It left its Arizona factory for Spaceport America, New Mexico, to begin ground tests, avionics work, captive carry tests, a drop test, and a powered test flight above 80 km. Virgin Galactic expects the first commercial spaceflight 'early' in the second quarter of 2027. _Space tourism watchers can track Apeiron's test milestones and schedule updates on daily.dev._ ### Is Virgin Galactic the only company still offering commercial suborbital space tourism flights? Yes, Virgin Galactic appears to be the only company with a realistic near-term chance of flying paying commercial passengers to space. This follows Blue Origin's retreat from the suborbital spaceflight market and SpaceX's planned retirement of its orbital-class Dragon spacecraft. Virgin Galactic had halted commercial flights of its previous vehicle, VSS Unity, in 2024. _Anyone weighing space tourism options can follow daily.dev for updates on which providers remain active._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Rocket Report: Pentagon needs more missile interceptors; Artemis II clears review](https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-pentagon-needs-more-missile-interceptors-artemis-ii-clears-review-bteesonhl) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Rocket Report: Engines installed for Artemis III; Long March 6C breakup in LEO](https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-engines-installed-for-artemis-iii-long-march-6c-breakup-in-leo-xvqjjfjeh) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [SpaceX just launched Starship V3 — its most powerful megarocket yet — into space for the 1st time in spectacular Flight 12 test \(video\)](https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-just-launched-starship-v3-its-most-powerful-megarocket-yet-into-space-for-the-1st-time-in-44o5bog6d) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Indian SpaceX rival EtherealX hits 5x valuation as it readies engine tests](https://daily.dev/posts/indian-spacex-rival-etherealx-hits-5x-valuation-as-it-readies-engine-tests-vnix9lfw6) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-winter-is-coming-for-themis-cowboy-space-adds-iron-to-the-fire-wukdzqhdb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-winter-is-coming-for-themis-cowboy-space-adds-iron-to-the-fire-wukdzqhdb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-winter-is-coming-for-themis-cowboy-space-adds-iron-to-the-fire-wukdzqhdb"},"datePublished":"2026-10-30T12:54:21.217Z","dateModified":"2026-10-30T12:54:50.414Z","description":"Startup Cowboy Space revealed specs for a new medium-lift rocket called Big Iron, though it has little hardware to show yet. 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It left its Arizona factory for Spaceport America, New Mexico, to begin ground tests, avionics work, captive carry tests, a drop test, and a powered test flight above 80 km. Virgin Galactic expects the first commercial spaceflight 'early' in the second quarter of 2027. Space tourism watchers can track Apeiron's test milestones and schedule updates on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Virgin Galactic the only company still offering commercial suborbital space tourism flights?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, Virgin Galactic appears to be the only company with a realistic near-term chance of flying paying commercial passengers to space. This follows Blue Origin's retreat from the suborbital spaceflight market and SpaceX's planned retirement of its orbital-class Dragon spacecraft. Virgin Galactic had halted commercial flights of its previous vehicle, VSS Unity, in 2024. Anyone weighing space tourism options can follow daily.dev for updates on which providers remain active."}}]} ```