Pld

Two Spanish space giants have joined forces to take 5G defense satellites into space: PLD Space and Sateliot

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Two Spanish companies they have sealed an agreement to launch new generation satellites without depending on any other foreign company. In Europe we have been with the run run of technological sovereignty. This agreement is a perfect example of this, and also a milestone for Spain if the project ends up materializing. The agreement. PLD Space, manufacturer of the Miura 5 rocket based in Elche, and Sateliot, a telecommunications satellite operator based in Barcelona, ​​have signed a contract to launch two satellites from Sateliot’s Tritó constellation aboard the Miura 5. The launch is scheduled for the last quarter of 2027, expectedly on the fourth commercial flight of the Elche rocket, and will do so from the Kourou Space Port, in French Guiana. Each satellite weighs about 160 kilos and will be launched on a dedicated mission, without sharing space with other operators. Why is it important? This agreement is presented as the first entirely Spanish private space mission, with satellites designed, manufactured and operated in the country, launched using a rocket also of Spanish origin. And the interesting thing about the project is that it would cover the entire value chain of the sector (manufacturing, launch, operations and commercial exploitation) without foreign intermediaries. Although the European Union has been trying for years reduce your dependence on operators like SpaceXthis alliance fits directly into this context. What are Tritó satellites? The Tritó constellation is a significant evolution of the current satellites that Sateliot has, weighing 15 kg and dedicated exclusively to the Internet of Things (IoT). In this case, the new Tritó have greater capacity and will combine IoT connectivity with direct device-satellite communication (D2D), including data, voice and video through 5G. Marco Guadalupi, CTO of Sateliot, counted to El Español that one of its key points is that they will be able to “establish the connection when the device is in the pocket”, being key for emergencies, natural disasters and defense applications. The risk they assume. Guadalupi does not hide that it is “a risky mission.” The Miura 5 is a new rocket, whose first launch test is scheduled for the end of this year, and its reliability has yet to be demonstrated in real flight. “We are crazy and we know what we want,” I was joking Guadalupi himself in the interview with the media. The Sateliot team claims to have visited the PLD Space integration and testing facilities on three occasions before signing. In exchange for the risk, they get something that few options on the market offer: a dedicated mission, without competing for space, and the flexibility to adapt flight conditions to their specific needs. Review. Last November, PLD Space closed financing of 169 million euros through ESA’s European Launcher Challenge, backed almost entirely by Spain, for launch contracts and improvements to the Miura 5. Sateliot, for its part, has plans to deploy up to 100 satellites in 2028 and aims to reach revenues of 1 billion euros in 2030, according to they count from Reuters. Among its shareholders is Indra, with 4% of the capital. The agreement with PLD Space also occurs while Sateliot is opening market in India. Jaume Sanpera, CEO of the company, traveled to the Asian country coinciding with the announcement, where the company already has headquarters and sees potential for a future business in which they offer connectivity in remote areas. What’s coming Before the satellites board the Miura 5, Sateliot plans to launch a prototype of the Tritó platform in mid-2027 to validate the payload. The more capable commercial satellites would be integrated into the rocket in the final stretch of that same year. Regarding the total number of satellites they hope to put into orbit, Guadalupi counted that “there will be hundreds.” Sateliot’s intention is to centralize launches to simplify logistics, and although they do not rule out other suppliers, they aim to continue working with PLD Space. Cover image | Satellite In Xataka | A new “solar system” has just been discovered. There’s just one problem: it shouldn’t exist.

PLD Space already has a complete Miura 5 rocket ready. to destroy it

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The renders are over. PLD Space has once again demonstrated that it is advancing at a devilish pace by publishing the first photos of the entire Miura 5 rocket. These images are history of the Spanish space industry. With you, the Miura 5. The first complete unit of the Miura 5 is not made to fly, but to suffer. Named QM1 (Qualification Model 1), has been almost completely assembled for integration testing of all subsystems before the final flight model takes off into Earth orbit next year. This is the first orbital launcher from a Spanish company, the same one that successfully launched the Miura 1 suborbital rocket from Huelva in October 2023. It was that milestone that has allowed PLD Space to complete the development of a rocket in record time. No other European company has done it so quickly. Why it is important. At a time when preserving sovereign access to space It has become a geopolitical issueEurope needs to have a strong aerospace industry and cheaper and more versatile rockets than the Ariane 6 and Vega C developed by ESA. The Miura 5 leads the European New Space thanks to its TEPREL-C biokerosene and liquid oxygen engines, more powerful than its competitors and developed internally by PLD Space in its Elche factory. The rocket measures 35.7 meters high, has two stages (the first with five engines, and the second with an engine adapted to the vacuum of space). The next steps. The first stage of the QM1 will perform a full propellant loading test known as “wet dress rehearsal.” They will fill the tanks, pressurize the vehicle as they would before a flight, and replicate all the structural and thermal loads prior to launch, without actually turning on the engines for takeoff. The second stage will be sent to the United States to test the Flight Termination System (FTS). Basically, it will be destroyed to validate that the explosive charges are capable of safely disintegrating the rocket in the event of an in-flight anomaly. PLD Space expects to have the second qualification unit ready in December. The first Miura 5 designed to fly will arrive shortly after. He is scheduled to travel to French Guiana in the first quarter of 2026. Images | PLD Space In Xataka | PLD Space has a detailed plan to become Europe’s rocket factory. And the pieces have started to fit

PLD Space, one step away from becoming the company that has developed an orbital rocket the fastest

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Whether in the Elche factory, on a test bench at Teruel airport or on the launch pad under construction in French Guiana, PLD Space is abuzz. The company advances one milestone per week and he tells us why: the Miura 5 rocket is practically ready at the design level. “I would tell you that it is 99%,” says Raúl Torres, CEO of the company, in an interview with Xataka. Candidate to become the Europe’s first private orbital rocketthe Miura 5 is about to finish the Critical Design Review (CDR) and take shape for the first time. “Now we are finishing the QM1 qualification models and starting the QM2, which means that shortly, and I’ll leave it there, we are going to have a first teachable Miura 5,” he reveals for the first time. This first fully integrated model will not fly, but will allow PLD to close engineering fronts and carry out key tests before the end of the year. If everything goes according to plan, the rocket chosen to take off will begin assembly in January. “The idea would be that in May we would be in Guyana to start doing the combined tests with the French space agency CNES,” confirms Torres, adjusting the schedule that originally pointed to a launch at the end of 2025. It is not an unexpected adjustment, but it was pending official confirmation since Chris Larmour, founder of Orbex, PLD’s British competitor, 1,000 euros were bet with Raúl Torres that the Miura 5 would not fly in 2025. Raúl accepted the bet. Will he pay Larmour now? “We have invited him to come sign the rocket at the end of the year, we are waiting for him to answer us,” says Torres. “I would like Orbex to also invite me at the end of the year to sign their rocket. Mine is going to sign it, so I only have to pay half of the bet.” Works in Guayana, lighting in Teruel If the Miura 5 flies in early 2026, PLD Space will be one of the fastest companies to have developed an orbital launcher, which is even more impressive considering the Spanish company’s financing compared to several of its competitors. But PLD Space is not starting from scratch. The successful launch of the Miura 1 suborbital rocket in October 2023 was the graduation of a team that now faces a higher challenge. “Miura 1 has been like primary school, ESO and high school, and now we are at university,” explains Torres. “That is why we have developed Miura 5 so quickly, because we have gone one step ahead with many developments.” Technologies such as the stage power system, cryogenic protections or the welding techniques of the Miura 5 are a direct inheritance from its little brother. However, “university” brings new and more complicated subjects. The most obvious technological leap is in the Miura 5 engines. The five TEPREL-C of the first stage and the vacuum-optimized TEPREL-C of the second They are beasts of another categoryespecially due to the introduction of turbopumps. PLD has developed most of the critical components in-house, such as liquid oxygen and kerosene valves. Combustion chambers are manufactured by electroplating copper and nickel, turbopump housings are 3D printed, and high-precision rotating components are machined. The objective is to achieve a production rate that allows one engine to be manufactured every two weeks in the Elche warehouse. PLD Space passed a fundamental milestone on October 6 with the first static ignition of a fully integrated TEPREL-C Vac in its facilities at Teruel airport. With 75 kN of thrust, it is one of the most powerful vacuum engines ever powered by a private company in Europe. But the real muscle of the rocket will be in the five TEPREL-C engines responsible for takeoff. Each one has 190 kN of thrust, almost double than its competitors. When will we see the first roar of a Miura 5 with the TEPREL-C fully integrated? “In one quarter you should expect the long and qualification tests of both the first and second stages, and also the restart test of both engines,” Torres told Xataka. To validate each component, PLD Space has also deployed new infrastructure at the Teruel airport. The T3 bench has been the protagonist of the static and compression tests of the rocket structures. Valves and gas generators are tested on bench T6. Bench T7 will be used for qualification of first stage Teprel-C engines and second stage long duration ignitions. The T9 bench will be used to test the separation between the first and second stages. Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic, PLD Space construction in French Guiana has begun. PLD has become the first New Space company to begin construction of its own launch base at the Guyana Space Center. “It is very likely that Miura 5 will be before Kourou’s works,” says Torres. The first structures of the launch pad They are being built in Spain. The rocket should arrive in South America in May. Advances in reuse since flight 1 Inspired by SpaceX, PLD does not conceive of a modern launcher without reuse. And their plan for the Miura 5 is to start collecting landing data from the first flight. If it achieves stage separation on its debut launch, the rocket will perform a maneuver boostback like that of the Falcon 9. “In flight one mission, in the test flight that we will do next year, we are going to try to re-enter the stage,” confirms Torres. After separation, the rocket will turn around and turn on its central engine for a few seconds to brake. “The booster will be ready to re-enter. We don’t want to miss the slightest opportunity to collect data.” And he talks about data because he does not expect to recover the rocket. “Evidently, it’s not going to happen the first time.” The first flight won’t even have a parachute. The main objective is to survive reentry from a hypersonic speed at Mach … Read more

This is the first treprel-c of PLD Space

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The heart of the Spanish rocket Miura 5 has taken shape. PLD Space presented on Monday The first fully integrated unit of the Treprel-C motor. It is not a minor achievement: with 190 km By a private company in Europe. And it is on its way to its first lit. Heat, you go out. PLD Space has not stopped this summer. Nor in its facilities in Teruel airport, where a few days ago, a tank of the future Miura 5 loaded with liquid oxygen He exceeded successfully A breakage test at cryogenic temperature. Nor in its headquarters and factory of Elche, where the first fully integrated Treprel-C engine has just left. This first model, aimed at qualification tests, contains the largest turbobombes developed by a European startup and represents a giant technological leap to the miura tapTell-B engine. After the engineering phase, integration and tests “hardware-in-the-loop, the propeller will be submitted in Teruel to a complete cycle and a series of ignition tests to ensure that you are ready to fly. This is the Treprel-C. Acronym for “Spanish technology for reusable spatial propulsion for pitchers”, the Treprel-C engine uses an open cycle fed by a gas generator with a single monoaex turbobomb pump. According to the PLD Space CEO, Raúl Torresthe engine burns approximately 80 kg of RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen per second. The first stage of Miura rocket 5 It will be driven by five treprel-C, which have a height of 2 meters and a 62 centimeter nozzle diameter. In total, they will make 950 kN of thrust. PLD Space also works on climbing the production of its factory to achieve a manufacturing rate of an engine every two weeks before the end of the year. The most advanced in its class. With its 190 kN, the Treprel-C is the most powerful private engine of its type between manufacturers of European microlanzers. An infographic of Daniel Marín Put the figures in perspective: Helix (RFA): The German Rocket Factory Augsburg Develop the Helix engine, which will propel the RFA One rocket. Nine of these engines, which use a stages combustion cycle, will generate a 100 kN thrust. Aquila (Isar Aerospace): also from Germany, Isar Aerospace Bet on the Aquila engine for its Spectrum rocket. With a gas generator cycle, each of its nine engines provides 75 kN of thrust, using propane and liquid oxygen as propellents. SkyForce (Skyorora): in the United Kingdom, Skyorora He works at the SkyForce engine for his Skyorra XL pitcher. This engine, which burns hydrogen and peroxide, reaches 70 kn of thrust. Prime (Orbex): The British also Orbex He has developed the Prime engine for his homonymous rocket. It is the smallest of the comparison, with a thrust of only 30 kN Spain wants to take off. With these data, the PLD Space Treprel-C not only folds the second engine on the list, but consolidates the position of the Spanish company at the forefront of the development of pitchers in Europe, as demonstrated by a recent contract of ESA For PLD to develop a guide, navigation and control system (CNG), While it is the most important, Elche is only one of the Spanish New Space axes. In Barcelona, ​​the PANgea Propulsion company (Before Pangaa Aerospace) Develop a different concept with its Aerospike Arcos engine. This technological demonstrator, designed modularly for higher stages, promises a push of 750 kN. Images | PLD Space In Xataka | PLD Space has a detailed plan to become the European rocket factory. And the pieces have started fitting

PLD Space has a detailed plan to become the European rocket factory. And the pieces have started fitting

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With Miura 1, PLD Space became the first private company in Europe to successfully launch a suborbital rocket. Since then, the Spanish company has stepped on the accelerator with a project in mind: launching Miura 5 in 2026. Today the first orbital rocket in Spain is not a project, but a tangible reality that is being assembled in Elche. PLD Space It has already manufactured All its components and prepares to start your engines for the first time. The Treprel-C roars in Teruel. A rocket is, in essence, an engine with a large fuel tank. Miura 5 will have five Treprel-C engines fed by turbobomba in its first stage, generating a combined thrust of 950 kN, 30 times more than Miura 1. The development of the most important component of the rocket advances to counterreloj. The company already tested in its test banks of Teruel’s airport combustion cameras, validating manufacturing technologies such as copper and nickel electrode. The turbobombs, the largest developed by a European startup, They were also tested with a complete ignition before its final integration into the engine. Elements such as gas generators and cryogenic valves were designed, manufactured and tested internally following the lessons learned during the development of MIURA 1. A process that has culminated with the start of the engine series manufacturing: there are already four engines of the Teprel-C family in production for the final qualification campaign. Aluminum plates have gained shape. Parallel to the development of engines, the construction of the rocket structure itself advances at a good pace. In a recent videoThe company details how its Elche factory has been working on the molding and the test of the metal structures (the fuel tanks) and of composite materials (the separation module between stages and the cofia that will protect the satellites of the customers). These components have already undergone all kinds: tests at room temperature, cryogenic, and with compression and flexion loads to ensure that the structure will support the brutal conditions of the launch. The idea is to refine the design with the results of the prototypes to maximize their performance. After validating the engineering models, PLD Space is now manufacturing the final qualification components, the step prior to the series production of Miura 5. The launch ramp is running. The company signed a development contract With the French Space Agency (CNES) to build its own launch complex in the European Space Port of Kouroou, in the French Guiana. The civil works will begin this summer in the same place where France launched its first rocket, the Elm-Diamant. The location is unbeatable: its proximity to Ecuador will allow optimizing the trajectories of Miura 5 and launching heavier loads with less fuel. But PLD Space does not conform and has also signed an agreement with Oman to build a Second launch base In the Etlaq Space Puerto. This movement will give direct access to the Mercado de Oriente. A plan to be the European rocket factory. At the same time that Miura 5 develops, PLD Space is raising an industrial complex to manufacture it in series. The company has designed a plan to climb its production to 32 units per year by 2030. This industrial effort is based on a supply chain of almost 400 partners, mostly Spanish and Europeans, which has invested 50 million euros Since the beginning of 2024. PLD Space has chained a series of crucial milestones that draw a very clear and ambitious roadmap, as European confidence demonstrates. Back of the European Space Agency. PLD Space is already officially one of the five companies preselected by ESA to guarantee sovereign access to space in Europe. The European Launcher Challenge has awarded contracts of up to 169 million euros to the five companies, among which are the French Maiaspace, the British Orbex and the Germans Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg. PLD Space has proposed to Miura 5 as its immediate operating pitcher already His future heavy and reusable rocket, the Miura Nextlike the next step. The ESA final decision will be taken in November 2025, but the pre -selection already positions the Spanish company as a key actor and an industrial leader in the European launch sector. Image | PLD Space In Xataka | 12 years after making fun of Spacex and his idea of landing rockets, Arianegroup is creating a European mini-falcon 9

If you have heard a roar at Teruel airport it is because PLD Space has just tested the new Miura 5 rocket engine

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A thermal chamber pointing to the test table of PLD Space At Teruel Airport, he has witnessed the first tests of the Treprel-C engine, the heart of the Spanish rocket Miura 5. Wake up, Miura, wakes up. PLD Space engineers have moved the first engines of the new Treprel-C family to the test zone for a series of integrated hardware trials. With these tests, the preparations for the flight rating campaign finalize, with which they will valid the design and tolerance of the motor to integrate it into the rest of the rocket. As Pld Space has advanced In his X profilethe new manufacturing technologies of combustion cameras that they have tried have “very good look”. A jump to the big leagues. The launch of Miura 1 served to validate all kinds of processes and technologies Internally developed, but the Miura 5 engine is much more complex. We talk about a two -stage orbital pitcher, designed to Place satellites of up to a ton In equatorial orbit. With a height of 35.7 meters, Miura 5 needs five teprel-C engines to rise. The engine is a direct evolution of the technologies validated by Miura 1 with an important qualitative leap: it is a turbobombic fueled engine in which the reliability apart from performance prevails. Treprel-C. The new Treprel engine (acronym for “Spanish technology for reusable spatial propulsion for pitchers”) generates 190 kn of thrust at sea level: 950 kN in total for the first stage of the Miura 5. The second stage of the rocket carries an optimized version for the vacuum. These engines, with a height comparable to that of a person, presume to have the combustion chamber of liquid propellant developed by a commercial company with private capital in Europe. They feed on RP-1 bioquerosen and liquid oxygen. Manufactured in Elche. The new PLD Space plant in Elche, 12,500 square meters, is designed to produce up to six MIURA 5 and 60 Treprel-C motors per year, which gives an idea of ​​the project ambition. The company’s facilities at Teruel airport have become, since Miura 1, in the epicenter of static tests. At the end of 2024, PLD Space lifted a 20-meter test tower for cryogenic and pressure test tower, and has built a test bench capable of trying three treprel-C simultaneously. The debut of Miura 5 is scheduled for early 2026. Images | PLD Space In Xataka | The “first private rocket in Europe” has been vacant and someone is getting hollow: Miura 5 of Pld Space

Miura 5 of Pld Space

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After the flight of Isar Aospace flight and a sudden change of CEO in RFA, the Spanish company PLD Space cuts distances in The race to put in orbit The first European private rocket. From Miura 1 to Miura 5. Founded by the Ilicitanos Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú in 2011, PLD Space successfully launched The suborbital rocket Miura 1 from Huelva In 2023. The 12.5 meter pitcher served as a test bench to validate many of the technologies that PLD Space has now been able to apply directly to his older brother, Miura 5. Miura 5 is A two -stage orbital rocket and 35.7 meters high Designed to put up to 540 kg in polar orbit or 1,080 kg in the low terrestrial orbit. Your heart is five trell-c engines of liquid oxygen and oxygen, internally developed with a total thrust of 950 kN. The second stage uses an optimized version for the emptiness of the same engine. First tests in Teruel. The new PLD Space headquarters is a 12,500 square meter factory located in Elche. It can produce up to six and 60 treprel-C per year. However, the engines’s trial center and the Spanish rocket is located at Teruel airport. At the end of 2024, PLD raised a 20 -meter test tower in its Teruel facilities to submit tanks and other structural components to pressure tests at cryogenic temperatures. In addition, he adapted the Miura 1 test banks to validate components of the new engines, and is building a new bank capable of trying three of these engines at the same time. With the height of a person, Treprel-C engines have the largest liquid propellant combustion chamber that has developed a commercial company with private capital in Europe. Worse funded, but growing. Unlike the German Isar Aerospace, which has a financing of 400 million euros, PLD Space has raised 170 million With the support of the aerospace belonging (40.5 million in the second phase), syndicated loans (31.2 million Santander, EBN and ICO), public financing (11 million co -confisses) and ESA contracts, Like the Boost program! to launch before 2027. PLD Space also has the client portfolio almost full. The Spanish company claims to have covered more than 80% of its launch holes up to 2027, which translates into an income forecast of 596 million euros. Just a few days ago, PLD closed an agreement With the D-AORIT space logistics company to launch its Ion Orbital Transfer vehicle and other satellites to equatorial orbits. In addition, they have exceeded 300 employees and grow at a rate of 15 hiring per month, especially in technical and business profiles. Two space ports. The main base of Miura 5 will be the European Space Puerto of Kouroou, in the French Guiana. PLD Space reached an agreement with the French Space Agency CNES for the construction of the complex. On the other hand, in February 2025 he announced his Second launch base In the Etlaq Space Puerto, in Oman. This movement will give PLD Space direct access to the Middle East market from 2027. The company also raises a third base to reach 30 launches a year from 2030. When will Miura 5 and its rivals fly? Although Raúl Torres, the PLD Space CEO, He opted money to Miura 5 would fly in 2025the inaugural flight of the rocket is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. Miura 5 will not be alone, although the last months have been moved for some of the main rivals. Isar Aerospace made his Spectrum rocket take off from Andøyain Norway, on March 30, but joy lasted little: at 20-25 seconds, the rocket lost control, He turned around and activated his self -destruction systemfalling to the sea near the platform. There is still no new date for the second attempt. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), another heavyweight based in Germany, suffered a capital reverse in August 2024: The explosion of your first stagewhich has delayed its first flight to not before the third quarter of 2025. Just a few days ago, Stefan Tweraser, signed in 2021 as CEO, It was replaced by Indulis Kalninsa veteran of the aerospace industry. Maiaspace, A spinoff of the French group Arianegroupit is also in the race, with the advantage of belonging to the company that has maintained the coheretes of Europe next to Avio for decades. The other two great competitors of PLD Space host in the United Kingdom: Orbex, with their little prime rocket (180 kg to orbit Heliosíncrona) plans its first flight by 2025. Skyorora and its Skyorra XL rocket (315 kg capacity) also point to this same year. Image | PLD Space In Xataka | PLD Space does not conform to the first Spanish rocket: it has been secretly developing a spacecraft a year

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