Key facts
- PLD Space now targets the MIURA 5 inaugural test flight for the first half of 2027, delayed from its previous 2026 target.
- PLD Space completed an explosive flight termination system test for its MIURA 5 rocket on October 30, 2026, before the vehicle's first flight.
- Three MIURA 5 vehicles have been manufactured, consisting of two qualification units plus the first flight vehicle now in integration.
- PLD Space aims to conduct an initial hot-fire test on the MIURA 5 rocket's second stage.
PLD Space completed an explosive flight termination system test for its MIURA 5 rocket on Oct. 30, 2026, at Delta-V Energetics in Utah, United States.
The Spanish launch services provider says its flight termination system is designed to destroy the rocket if an in-flight anomaly threatens public safety. PLD Space announced the successful test as validation ahead of a major regulatory approval. Chief executive Raúl Torres said the company conducted the test in the United States because of administrative difficulties associated with handling explosive charges in Europe.
PLD Space targets the MIURA 5 inaugural test flight for the first half of 2027, delayed from its previous 2026 target. The company set the first-half 2027 date in an Oct. 19 news release, a slip from the 2026 commitment last reaffirmed on June 1 alongside a €35 million increase in Guiana Space Centre launch infrastructure investment.
The company has manufactured three MIURA 5 vehicles, consisting of two qualification units plus the first flight vehicle in integration. PLD Space began system-level testing of the orbital launch vehicle on Oct. 19, 2026. The company has finished test campaigns on two fairing qualification models. “Having manufactured three vehicles in parallel allows us to accelerate this learning process,” Raúl Torres said.
PLD Space has built seven complete engines, 13 complete tanks including liquid-oxygen tanks for both stages, and four complete avionics sets. It has built first flight-configuration TEPREL-C and TEPREL-C Vac engines and begun test campaigns.
Teruel hosted completed stage-separation tests for the MIURA 5 launcher, verifying the interfaces, commands and timing sequence for controlled separation of the first and second stages. On Sept. 21, PLD Space erected a fully integrated MIURA 5 second stage vertically at Teruel in preparation for a wet dress rehearsal and static hot-fire test. A wet dress rehearsal is a practice countdown with real propellants, followed by a static fire test held down.
The Elche factory provides 17,000 square meters of manufacturing space. Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú founded PLD Space in 2011; the company is headquartered in Elche and has more than 550 employees.
The company has spent €42.7 million across 493 suppliers. Selection for the European Launcher Challenge and a €288 million Series C funding round support the program.
At the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, PLD Space has received roughly 60 containers of ground equipment and infrastructure. The company continues validating the launch vehicle’s support structure, hold-down mechanisms and umbilical systems at the spaceport alongside delivery of the equipment.
PLD Space is working with the French space agency CNES on safety procedures for launches from the Guiana Space Centre, and ground site preparations proceed under an infrastructure partnership with CNES. PLD Space is testing launch pad equipment such as the strongback that lifts the rocket, clamps that restrain it before liftoff, and lines for power and fuel.
Miura 1, a smaller suborbital test rocket, made its first flight in Oct. 2023. Mission analysis has consolidated the launcher’s reference trajectory ahead of the first flight, and PLD Space aims to conduct an initial hot-fire test on the MIURA 5 rocket’s second stage.
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