WASHINGTON — PLD Space has secured 40.5 million euros ($43.8 million) from the Spanish government after completing a preliminary design review of its Miura 5 launch vehicle.
The company announced Jan. 27 that it received the funding through the government’s PERTA Aerospace initiative to support development of the country’s aerospace industry. PERTE is the Spanish acronym for Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation, a broader post-pandemic recovery effort.
The company won the funding after completing the preliminary design review (PDR) its Miura 5 small launch vehicle, a review that was then examined by an independent committee. The award is technically a loan, which will be paid off over 10 years once Miura 1 begins commercial operations, currently scheduled for 2026.
“The technical decision in favor of PLD Space confirms that our technological development strategy is sound and is based on a solid business plan,” said Ezequiel Sánchez, executive president of PLD Space, in a statement. “Winning this public contract to create a strategic national capability reinforces our position as a leading company in securing Europe’s access to space.”
Miura 5 is a small launch vehicle with a payload of up to 540 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The vehicle’s first stage is designed to be recovered through ocean splashdown and reused. Test flights are scheduled to begin as soon as 2025 from a launch site in French Guiana.
The vehicle builds on PLD Space’s experience developing the Miura 1, a suborbital rocket. That rocket flew for the first time in October from a Spanish military base, and the company declared that launch a success.
“We are fully focused on Miura 5 now,” Sánchez said in an interview in November. At the time, he said the company was working to complete the PDR by the end of the year, incorporating data from the Miura 1 flight.
In the statement about the Spanish government funding, PLD Space…
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