The Elche company PLD Space has presented Miura 1, the first Spanish-made space rocket. The Miura 1 is a reusable launcher that could carry small satellites to put them into orbit, and its first flight is scheduled for the second half of 2022. In this way, Spain will join the small and exclusive group of countries with the capacity to send rockets into space.
The model has been presented at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid , where it can be seen for free on November 12, 13 and 14. The event was attended by the former Minister of Science Pedro Duque.
Miura 1 is a suborbital launch rocket designed and developed by the Alicante space company PLD Space, with the capacity to carry small payloads of up to 100 kilos into space . Approximately 12 meters high, it is expected to reach 153 kilometers after its launch, which will take place from the El Arenosillo complex in Huelva.
The launcher will return by parachute to the waters of the Atlantic, about 70 kilometers from the launch point, from where it will be picked up by a ship.
Operational tests at Teruel airport

The El Arenosillo base
For 85% of the year, the weather at the launch base, located in Mazagon, features sunny skies and mild temperatures. In this way, cancellations and delays due to inclement weather are avoided.
The El Arenosillo Experimental Center (CEDEA) is located near Huelva, in southwestern Spain (37°05’59.96” N, 06°44’10.63” W). From this base, more than 550 sounding rockets have been launched to date.
El Arenosillo is owned and managed by INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology), an institution that belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Defense.It has all the necessary equipment and facilities to support PLD Space’s commercial launch operations.

Predecessor of ‘Miura 5’, a more advanced model

Miura 1 is the predecessor of Miura 5, a more advanced model that could already be used commercially with public and private clients, and whose objective will be to send satellites into space for telecommunications, defense and research scientific. This second model, which will also be reusable, can carry a load of up to 450 kilos and is expected to be launched in 2024 from French Guiana.
The development of this project has lasted for years and, as Raul Torres, one of the co-founders of PLD Space, assures RTVE , the biggest technical problem has been “developing a propulsion system from scratch, which is something very complicated”, since that“Spain did not have the technology to do it” . He also points to the development of electronics and structures, since in Spain they had not developed complete structures for launchers either.

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