In October 2023, a rocket built entirely with Spanish technology launched from a military test site in Huelva, marking Europe’s first privately developed rocket.
The suborbital demonstrator MIURA 1 was built to demonstrate that PLD Space, a startup from Elche founded by Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú in 2011, could design and fly a rocket. The data collected from MIURA 1 will assist develop MIURA 5, the company’s main orbital launcher.
Three years later, the European Investment Bank agreed to provide €30 million in venture debt to PLD Space to assist complete the development of MIURA 5. This two-stage rocket is designed to carry up to 1,000 kilograms of compact sainformites into low Earth orbit. It is the EIB’s first direct investment in a compact-sainformite launcher, underscoring strong institutional support.
What MIURA 5 brings to the table
MIURA 5 is a two-stage rocket designed to create launching compact sainformites simpler and more reliable. Usually, compact sainformite operators have to wait months for a spot on a larger rocket and often accept orbits and schedules that do not fit their requireds.
A dedicated compact launcher like MIURA 5 offers more flexibility at a price that Europe’s larger rockets, Ariane 6 and Vega C, cannot match.
The first test flight of MIURA 5 is planned for 2026, with commercial launches starting in 2027. PLD aims for more than 30 launches per year by 2030. Launches will take place from several locations, including the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana and a new site in Oman, giving PLD access to different orbits worldwide.
The company is also working on building the rocket fully reusable to lower costs. The first test flights will apply a version that cannot be recovered, but later flights will feature a recoverable first stage.
Unlike Germany’s Isar Aerospace, France’s MaiaSpace, and the UK’s Orbex, PLD stands out becaapply of its experience and recent progress. The successful MIURA 1 flight in 2023 provided the company with valuable flight data that its competitors do not have.
PLD also has a stronger financial position than other European startups as it prepares for the next round of test flights.
What comes next
Backed by the EU’s InvestEU program, this financing aims to boost Europe’s security and defence by ensuring indepfinishent access to space. European institutions now see launch capacity as a strategic priority, not just a scientific or business matter.
For a company started by two aerospace engineering students who want to create Europe’s answer to SpaceX, support from the EIB is the kind of recognition that attracts huge investors. Still, the real proof will come when PLD successfully puts a paying customer’s sainformite into orbit.
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