Spain To Launch Miura 1, The First Private Reusable Rocket From Western Europe, In Late 2023: All About It
Miura 1 is a micro-launcher, and is as tall as a three-storey building. It can carry cargo weighing up to 100 kilograms and can conduct zero-gravity experiments.
Spain is set to launch the first private reusable rocket from Western Europe in late 2023. Spanish engineers Raul Torres and Raul Verdu, who work for Spanish launch company Payload Aerospace SL (PLD Space), have named their suborbital partially-reusable launch vehicle "Miura 1" after Miura, a famous breed of the Spanish Fighting Bull, a Reuters report says.
PLD Space is currently developing another partially-reusable launch vehicle. It is called Miura 5.
Miura 1 is a micro-launcher, and is as tall as a three-storey building. It can carry cargo weighing up to 100 kilograms and can conduct zero-gravity experiments.
PLD Space recently unveiled the rocket at the Huelva Space Port. According to the report, PLD Space's executive president Ezequiel Sanchez said the rocket demonstrated Spain's "technological leadership" in Europe.
La actividad en la base de lanzamiento de Huelva es frenética.
— PLD Space (@PLD_Space) March 16, 2023
Empezamos las pruebas previas al primer vuelo de MIURA 1 en un marco incomparable y, de momento, todo marcha según lo previsto🌅🚀#VAMOSMIURA1 #MIURA1 pic.twitter.com/PcoK05HEqH
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised the development of the micro-launcher and said it will put Spain at the vanguard of the emerging but potent space industry.
On March 7, 2023, Spain established the Spanish Space Agency, in the Southern city of Seville, in order to take part in the space race.
More about Miura 1
Miura 1 was privately developed in Europe, and could carry payloads to space and bring them safely to Earth, PLD Space states on its website.
The standard flight duration of Miura 1 is 12 minutes. It can travel up to a height of 150 kilometres, which is the heyday of suborbital flight.
Miura 1 can spend three to four minutes in microgravity. After the flight, it will take four hours to recover the payload on Miura 1.
The micro-launcher has low acceleration. There is a 70 per cent reduction in maximum axial acceleration, compared to solid-propelled sounding rockets. A sounding rocket is a one- or two-stage solid propellant rocket used for conducting space research and making measurements.
Miura 1 is designed for microgravity research and technology development. It has four individual payload compartments. There is a compartment called 'Single Compartment'.
The fuel will burn for 122 seconds. The mass of Miura 1 at launch is 2,550 kilograms. The height is 12.5 metres.
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