Virgin Galactic has opened a public vote to name the first spacecraft in its next-generation Delta-class fleet, which it hopes will return the company to commercial suborbital passenger flights in February 2027. The vehicle matters because it is intended to fly far more frequently than the retired SpaceShipTwo system, potentially expanding the company’s capacity to carry paying customers to the edge of space.

The four shortlisted names are Horizon, Explorer, Ascend and Apeiron, selected from 276 suggestions submitted by employees and customers with reserved seats. Delta-1 was structurally completed earlier this year and moved to a test hangar in Arizona; flight tests are expected to begin in October before delivery to Spaceport America in New Mexico. Each Delta spacecraft is designed for up to six people and could conduct up to eight missions a month, compared with SpaceShipTwo’s maximum rate of roughly one-twelfth of that.