In the 2007 film Sunshine, the spaceship sent to reignite the Sun is Icarus II.
Set in 2057, the film imagines a dying Sun causing a global freeze and threatening humanity’s survival. Icarus II carries eight astronauts and a colossal stellar bomb designed to restore the Sun’s energy output. Physicist Robert Capa is responsible for arming the payload, while the rest of the crew operate the ship, maintain life support, and manage the mission’s hazards.
The name also explains one of the film’s recurring themes. Icarus refers to the figure from Greek mythology who flew too close to the Sun, making the vessel’s name a warning as well as a mission designation. The filmmakers deliberately used the ominous name instead of a more hopeful title.
Viewers sometimes confuse Icarus II with Icarus I. Icarus I was the earlier ship, launched seven years before and presumed lost. Its distress signal causes the second crew to alter course and investigate, creating the film’s central crisis. Helios and Mercury Alpha are not the names of the mission spacecraft.