High-altitude winds on Wednesday forced Spanish start-up PLD Space to cancel the maiden flight of its small Miura-1 rocket, the first step in the development of a mini-space launcher. "We don't have a green light, we have gusts of wind at altitude, out of bounds. This means that we cannot launch in adequate security conditions," said the PLD Space commentator during the live broadcast of this launch, a first in Spain.
The firing window, open from the day before until Wednesday 10:00, has closed. A new test will take place "in the coming days," it was indicated without elaborating.
Learning to "de-risk the first flights"
The small 12-meter rocket was to be fired from a Spanish military base on the Andalusian coast near Moguer and rise a hundred kilometers above the Gulf of Cadiz. This is high enough to reach space, but the rocket is not powerful enough to orbit the Earth. This suborbital mission should carry a payload intended for microgravity experiments and especially to prepare the future launcher of PLD Space.
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The interest is to learn and risk the first flights of Miura-5", which will be able to place satellites in orbit, had explained to AFP before the launch attempt Raul Verdu, co-founder and chief executive of the small company. About 70% of the components developed in-house for Miura-1 will be used for Miura-5, which is larger at 35 meters high and two stages.
The market for small satellites (those weighing less than 500 kilos) that Miura-5 intends to put into orbit from 2025 is impressive: nearly 18,500, mainly for constellations, are to be launched over the next decade, according to the specialized firm Euroconsult.