Spain's PLD Space plans first rocket launch before the end of May

Virgin Orbit Holdings

18/05/2023 12:27

MADRID, May 18 (Reuters) - Spanish company PLD Space
plans to launch its first private suborbital reusable rocket
before the end of this month, it said on Thursday, with a view
to eventually entering the market for putting small satellites
in space.
    The microlauncher "Miura 1" - named after a renowned breed
of Spanish fighting bulls - is being prepared for launch from a
military facility in Huelva in southern Spain.
    The launch will be the first step in PDL Space's plans to
start commercial activity in 2025 with an orbital rocket, "Miura
5", currently under development. 
    "Every second the rocket is in the air is learning and data
for the development of Miura 5. After 12 years, PLD Space will
be the first private micro-launcher company to reach this
historic milestone in the European space race," Ezequiel
Sanchez, PLD's executive president, said in a press release.
    Various countries' and U.S. companies' plans to deploy
thousands of internet-beaming satellites in the next few years
have spawned a wave of new rocket companies seeking a slice of
what some analysts expect will be a trillion dollar space market
by 2030.
    Several European startups are racing to get a commercial
satellite launcher ready to compete with those of private U.S.
companies, after Virgin Orbit  VORBQ.PK  filed for bankruptcy
following a failed launch in January. 
    PLD Space has been given the green light from the National
Institute for Aerospace Technology to carry out a flight test by
May 31, after completing an initial "hot test", it said.
    During that test, the company kept the Miura 1 engine
running at full throttle for five seconds to check that it
functions perfectly in a simulation environment.
    For security reasons the exact date of the launch will only
be announced 24 hours in advance, after two more tests are
completed. Heavy rains and strong winds could still force the
company to abort the mission.
     The microlauncher "Miura 1" is as tall as a three-storey
building, has a 100-kg (220-lb) cargo capacity and can also be
used to carry out zero-gravity experiments.
    PLD Space, founded in 2011, has raised more than 60 million
euros ($66 million) in private and public funding.
 ($1 = 0.9084 euros)

 (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Inti Landauro and Hugh
Lawson)
 ((emma.pinedo@thomsonreuters.com; +918 35 68 34;))