Spain’s PLD Space plans first rocket launch test on May 31

MADRID: Spanish company PLD Space says it plans the first test of a suborbital reusable rocket on Wednesday in an attempt to launch small satellites into space and capture a slice of a potential multi-trillion dollar market. bottom.

If successful, the launch from the military aerospace research center in Huelva, southern Spain, will be the first in Western Europe by a private company.

Targeting a market some analysts expect will be a multi-trillion dollar space market by 2030, with companies worldwide planning to deploy thousands of Internet Beam satellites in the next few years A new wave of rocket companies is emerging.

Europe’s efforts to develop the ability to send small satellites into space have been in the spotlight following the failure of a Virgin Orbit rocket launch from Cornwall, England, in January. The company subsequently went bankrupt and closed after selling assets for $36.4 million.

PLD Space will take the lead if its Miura 1 micro launcher, named after a famous breed of Spanish fighting bull, succeeds. The rocket is as tall as his three-story building, has a payload capacity of 100 kg (220 lb), and can also be used for zero-gravity experiments.

The company will collect as much data as possible for the production of the orbital rocket “Miura No. 5” currently under development.

According to the company, the Miura 1 will be launched at 6:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. Japan time) for a test flight lasting about six minutes.

The goal is for the rocket to reach a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers (50 miles), where the payload is weightless.

Miura stays there for a few minutes and then begins the descent at 2,800 kilometers per hour. The speed is reduced thanks to a system on the rocket and the gradual deployment of her two parachutes.

The rocket is scheduled to land in the Atlantic Ocean, 60 kilometers off the coast of Huelva, and be recovered by a ship.