MIURA-1, the suborbital rocket developed by PLD Space, will be launched from “El Arenosillo” Experimentation Center (CEDEA), of the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Spain’s national space agency, during the third quarter of 2019. This technological demonstrator, whose development began in 2011, is designed to provide scientific and commercial access to space from Spain.
A year ahead for this great milestone in the history of PLD Space, INTA and the aerospace company have reaffirmed their commitment to carry out the first space launch of MIURA-1, a suborbital rocket that will demonstrate the technologies that will, in the future, put satellites in Earth orbit.
This agreement involves the use of the facilities of CEDEA to launch MIURA-1. In “El Arenosillo”, INTA has the necessary equipment to enable the launch of suborbital rockets, in addition to having the technical capabilities to carry out the necessary qualification tests of the rocket components in its own laboratories.
The use of these facilities for space purposes dates back to 1966, when the National Commission for Space Research (CONIE) announced that INTA would henceforth be the managing body of the Experimentation Center “El Arenosillo” and perform the precise work needed to carry out the first launch campaign in the following months.
The Judi-DART rocket probe for meteorological study was the first HASR rocket (high altitude sounding rocket) that was launched from “El Arenosillo.” From that moment until 1994, more than 500 launches were made with systems of different sizes and under different conditions, mainly from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
PLD Space and INTA have established, through this agreement, a lasting relationship that will allow them to develop aerospace and technical scientific knowledge. The launch of MIURA-1 will have an important scientific purpose, and serve as a critical technological demonstration.
