PLD Space

PLD Space (Payload Aerospace S.L.) is a Spanish launch company founded in 2011 in Elche, developing partially-reusable launch vehicles Miura 1 and Miura 5. Miura 1, a suborbital sounding rocket for microgravity research and technology development, successfully launched on October 7, 2023, serving as the technological demonstrator for the orbital Miura 5. The Miura 5 small launch vehicle can place approximately 500 kg into sun-synchronous orbit. PLD Space is seeking to have the first Miura 5 on the pad at Guiana Space Center by end of 2025, with launch planned for early 2026. The company expects to produce one TEPREL-C rocket engine every two weeks by end of 2025. PLD Space raised €120 million total funding by June 2024. Beyond Miura 5, PLD Space revealed a family of next-generation larger rockets and the Lince crew capsule. In cargo configuration, Lince can carry 5,000 kg to ISS and return 3,400 kg; when carrying crew, it supports four or five astronauts. PLD Space aims to achieve 30 launches annually by 2030.