The embryo of what is expected to be the first large private rocket developed in Spain, the Miura 5, is scheduled to take off between 8 am and 10 am today from the El Arenosillo space base (Huelva). This first model located on the launch pad is the Miura 1, designed entirely in Spain by PLD Space to carry payloads into space and return them safely to earth. This is a test flight that should collect data for a larger project, the Miura 5, a true orbital launcher.
That is the primary objective of the Miura 1 SN1 mission. “Every second that Miura 1 is in the air will be a second of success and a milestone for us,†notes PLD Space. The collection of as much data as possible during the flight “will be very important to determine potential improvements or changes” in the future Miura 5.
For this, the Miura 1 has as one of its main goals to achieve microgravity conditions for the experimental loads it transports. “This first mission will make it possible to verify the operation of key technologies in flight, something that to date we have never been able to do,” says the company, founded in Elx.
The flight of the Miura 1 has an expected duration of 12 minutes, of which 4 will be in microgravity conditions, which are reached from 80 km in height, although the apogee, the maximum altitude that the unmanned spacecraft will reach will be about 150 km high. The rocket has a height of 12.5 meters, like a three-story building and weighs 2,500 kilos, at takeoff. Its payload capacity is 100 kg and it is expected to carry out four commercial missions per year.
In the case of completing the mission completely, the Miura 1 will descend to 2,800 kilometers per hour, a speed that will be reduced by means of a system installed in the rocket and the gradual deployment of two parachutes. The ditching is planned in the Atlantic, 60 kilometers from the coast of Huelva
PLD Space has anticipated two ships will be in the area designated for the re-entry of the Miura 1 and that they must recover the rocket for reuse.
Other objectives of the launch of the Miura 1 SN1 mission are to find out the thrust profile of the engine under flight conditions, the aerodynamic behavior of the rocket and all its subsystems under real conditions, and monitoring of the nominal trajectory.
PLD Space has developed the launch base in Médano del Loro, within the security perimeter of the Médano del Loro Shooting Range, dependent on the Army, which is located next to the El Arenosillo Experimentation Center (CEDEA), dependent on the National Institute de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), an entity dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Defence.
Unlike the suborbital flight of the Miura 1, the Miura 5 is an orbital launcher that will be dedicated from 2024 to small satellites, from Cubsats to 450 kg payloads with a capacity of 15 annual missions from two bases, the Huelva and the European spaceport in Kourou, in French Guiana. The rocket has a mass at liftoff of 68,742 kg and a length of 36 meters.
