17:27 JST, November 6, 2024
ELCHE, Spain (Reuters) – Spanish start-up PLD Space, which carried out Europe’s first fully private rocket launch last year, aims to one day carry any type of cargo and eventually people into space, joining major players like Elon to rival Musk’s SpaceX.
Plans by companies around the world to deploy thousands of internet-bundled satellites in the coming years have spawned a wave of new rocket companies targeting what some analysts expect will be a trillion-dollar space market by 2030.
Executive President Ezequiel Sanchez told Reuters on the sidelines of a corporate event called “Beyond” that the launch of small orbital satellites with a new rocket after 2026 would mark the start of PLD’s commercial activities, before a family of heavier ones in the next period launchers would emerge. decade.
“Our goal is to launch any type of freight that the market needs… including the possibility of transporting people,” Sánchez said.
After the successful sub-orbital flight of its Miura-1 rocket, named after a breed of bull used in bullfighting, PLD is now working on its Miura-5 fully orbital launch vehicle, which it will test in 2025 and 2026 with two launches from French- Guyana.
“Within the flight configuration we already have for Miura-5, we can develop tests aimed at the evolution of the technologies for the rest of the launch vehicles,” said Sanchez.
Founded in 2011 and based in the eastern city of Elche, the heart of Spain’s footwear industry, PLD aims to sign binding contracts for the launch of the Miura-5, after receiving customer interest for deals worth around €600 million ($657.96 million).
With 70 employees set to be added to the company’s 250 workforce by the end of the year, PLD recently unveiled a 12,000 square meter facility for the Miura-5 development, with plans for a six-fold expansion of industrial capacity in the next four years.
“We want to compete globally with the main players out there,” Sánchez added.
