Alex Trelinski
ELCHE’S PLD Space will launch the first private rocket in Europe -Miura 1- in the early hours of Saturday morning from El Arenosillo in Huelva at the National Institute of Aerospace Technology.
The blast-off is scheduled for 2.00am and comes after postponements earlier in the year.
Night owls and space fans can watch the launch via the live stream of the PLD Space channel on You Tube.
The company will be hoping that it will be third time lucky as strong winds caused a postponement on May 31.
A ‘last minute technical issue’ then caused the rescheduled date of June 17 to be scrubbed, and then the summer heat and fears of starting a forest fire pushed the launch date back into the autumn.
Miura 1 is a small sub-orbital launch vehicle that stands just 12 metres tall and is capable of placing objects in space.
When it does go up, it will travel just 100 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, using sensors to study microgravity conditions during its12 minute flight,
A team of divers and two ships in the planned Atlantic Ocean landing area will then look to recover Miura 1 from the water.
The aim is to use anything learnt from the short trip into space to incorporate adjustments to Miura 5, which is a larger orbital micro-launcher with parts that can be recovered and reused.
PLD Space aims to put small satellites of up to 450 kilos into orbit from 2025 via Miura 5 which would be launched from the European spaceport in French Guiana after signing an agreement earlier this year.
If successful, the Elche company would be the first private European operator to launch a reusable satellite rocket into space.
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