Space
A new false start for the Spanish rocket
The maiden flight of the Miura-1 small rocket was canceled at the last minute on Saturday. This is the latest issue with this mini space launcher.
Posted
The first launch to Spain was planned in the province of Huelva (southwest).
via REUTERS
Another tile for the Miura-1. The first flight of the tiny Spanish rocket was canceled Saturday due to a last-minute technical glitch, its manufacturer, start-up BLD Space, announced. The first launch to Spain was planned in the province of Huelva (southwest). It was interrupted at the end of the countdown, according to live footage broadcast on the PLD Space site.
Raul Torres, co-founder of the Spanish start-up, explained on Twitter that the process was “stopped automatically” due to a problem with one of the power supply tubes connected to the launcher before takeoff. The first flight of the Miura-1, which echoes a breed of fighting bulls, was scheduled to take place on May 31, before being canceled due to strong winds.
Microgravity experiments
The small 12-meter rocket will be launched from a Spanish military base on the Andalusian coast near Moguiar and rise to an altitude of about 100 kilometers above the Gulf of Cadiz. High enough to reach space, but the rocket is still not powerful enough to orbit the Earth.
This sub-orbital mission will carry a load to prepare microgravity and above all the future PLD space launcher, the Miura-5. 70% of the components developed in-house for the Miura-1 will be used for the Miura-5, plus its 35-meter height and two decks. The market for small satellites that Miura-5 wants to put into orbit from 2025 is impressive: nearly 18,500, mainly for constellations, are slated for launch over the next decade.
(AFP)
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