Spanish aerospace company PLD Space achieved a significant milestone on October 6, 2023, with the successful launch of its inaugural suborbital rocket, Miura 1.
Spanish aerospace company PLD Space achieved a significant milestone on October 6, 2023, with the successful launch of its inaugural suborbital rocket, Miura 1. The flight, originating from the El Arenosillo Experimentation Centre in southwestern Spain, marked a vital step forward for the company’s ambitious space endeavors.
The rocket embarked on a suborbital trajectory, soaring for 306 seconds before making a controlled splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the achieved altitude of 46 kilometers fell short of the planned 80 kilometers, PLD Space declared the mission a triumph, emphasizing that all technical objectives were met.
Raúl Torres, co-founder of PLD Space and the launch director, explained in subsequent social media posts that the company adjusted the rocket’s trajectory for safety considerations, modifying the apogee and extending the flight over the Atlantic. This measure was taken to reduce the potential affected area in the event of a vehicle malfunction. He did not specify when this decision was made.
Torres affirmed, “All vehicle subsystems performance was nominal, without any significant deviation or degradation of trajectory. Vehicle flown perfectly.”
The Miura 1 rocket, designed for suborbital microgravity research, carried a payload for Germany’s Centre for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM). However, its primary purpose was as a technology demonstrator for the Miura 5 small launch vehicle currently in development. Approximately 70% of the design and technology for Miura 5 were validated through this crucial Miura 1 mission.
Raúl Verdú, co-founder and business development manager at PLD Space, expressed, “We developed Miura 1 as a steppingstone to accelerate the technological advancement of Miura 5. With this mission’s success, our team is poised to rapidly progress towards the inaugural flight of Miura 5 – our ultimate goal.”
While PLD Space may not be the first European launch startup to reach orbit, it has solidified its position as a frontrunner in the European space race. The company anticipates the debut launch of Miura 5 in 2025 from Kourou, French Guiana.
Other firms, such as Germany’s Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg, along with UK-based Orbex and Skyrora, are also on track to conduct their initial launches in the coming years. Nevertheless, PLD Space’s emphasis on reliability sets it apart in the competitive race to space. “We see a race, of course, to be the first one,” Verdú noted. “But I see the most challenging part is to be reliable. This is why we made the decision at PLD Space to develop a demonstrator. We learned so many things in Miura 1.”
PLD Space encountered delays earlier in the year due to technical issues and compliance with Spanish law regarding wildfire prevention. Despite these setbacks, the successful Miura 1 mission is a testament to the company’s dedication to advancing space technology.