When was the last time American headlines read positive about the Spanish economy? Well now, thanks to the successful test flight of a Spanish reusable space rocket, let the presses ring out that Spanish innovation is alive and well.
Private astronautics company PLD has successfully proved the Miura-1 reusable rocket is capable of space flight, and that Spain is now the 10th country on Earth with direct access to space.
The rocket, named after a type of fighting bull from which an old Lamborghini model also took its name, flew 28.6 miles (46 kilometers) into suborbital space on a flight lasting 306 seconds.
Designed as a lighter, cheaper way for governments and companies to put satellites into orbit, the Miura has a payload of 220 pounds (100 kg).
“This launch is the result of more than 12 years of hard work, but it is only the beginning of what is to come,” PLD founder and Launch Director Raul Torres said in a statement.
“Thanks to this experimental flight, we will be able to extract a large volume of information that will allow us to validate a large part of the design and technology that will serve as the basis for developing our orbital launcher, MIURA 5.”
The mission ended with a splash in the Atlantic Ocean, with the company saying they were ready to retrieve it hours after the test launch concluded.
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Even though the hopes for the test flight were for an 80-kilometer journey and 12 minutes in microgravity, the success in other fields for the Miura-1 comes at an interesting time when the premier launching vehicle for European space entrepreneurs and agencies, the Ariane 5, is now unavailable as the Ariane 6 comes into the final stages of development.
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However the Ariane 6 has faced delays, and the Russian Soyuz vehicle used occasionally by Europe is also unavailable due to the sanctions from the Ukraine invasion. These factors, coupled with a failed test from the UK’s Virgin Orbit, and a delay in perfecting Italy’s Vega-C rocket, have convinced PLD that Spain, seemingly out of nowhere, is now the leader in economic space flight in Europe.
The company will use the launch data to push toward a 2025 test date for the Miura-5, PLD’s finished product, with several launches in between to test various systems.
WATCH the launch below…
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