Spain's PLD Space calls off test rocket launch citing high altitude winds (updated)

Virgin Orbit Holdings

31/05/2023 08:07

(Adds details and context)
       HUELVA, Spain May 31 (Reuters) - Spanish startup PLD
Space called off the test launch of its first suborbital
reusable rocket scheduled for Wednesday morning, citing strong
high-altitude winds.
    The company said it intended to try again in the coming
days.
    PLD Space's test is set to be its first step in the race to
put small satellites into space and capture a slice of a
potential trillion-dollar market.
    The launch from a military aerospace research centre in
Huelva, southern Spain, would have been the first in Western
Europe by a private company.
    Europe's efforts to develop capabilities to send small
satellites into space are in focus after a failed orbital rocket
launch by Virgin Orbit from Britain in January. 
    PLD Space's "Miura 1" rocket, named after a breed of
fighting bulls, is as tall as a three-storey building and has a
100-kg (220-lb) cargo capacity. It can also be used to carry out
zero-gravity experiments.
    The test will gather as much data as possible to build
"Miura 5", an orbital rocket which is being developed and would
be tested from a space centre in French Guiana.

 (Reporting by Jon Nazca and Inti Landauro
Editing by Emma Pinedo and Mark Potter)
 ((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;))