The inaugural flight of the small Spanish Miura-1 rocket was canceled this Saturday due to a last-minute technical problem, announced its manufacturer, the start-up PLD Space, the latest problem with this mini space launcher.
The launch, unprecedented in Spain, was planned in the province of Huelva (southwest). It was interrupted at the end of the countdown, according to live images broadcast on the PLD Space site. The procedure was “automatically stopped” due to a problem in one of the power supply conduits connected to the launcher before takeoff, the co-founder of the Spanish start-up Raúl Torres explained on Twitter.
microgravity experiments
The maiden flight of Miura-1, whose name echoes a breed of fighting bull, was originally scheduled for May 31, before being canceled due to excessively high winds. The small 12-meter rocket was to be fired from a Spanish military base on the Andalusian coast near Moguer and would fly some 100 kilometers over the Gulf of Cádiz. It is high enough to reach space, but the rocket is not yet powerful enough to orbit the Earth.
This suborbital mission must carry a load destined for experiments in microgravity and, above all, make it possible to prepare the future PLD space launcher, Miura-5. About 70% of the components developed internally for the Miura-1 will be used for the more imposing Miura-5 with its 35-meter height and two floors.
The market for small satellites (those weighing less than 500 kilos) that Miura-5 intends to put into orbit from 2025 is impressive: about 18,500, mainly for constellations, will be launched in the next decade, according to the specialist firm Euroconsult. .
Source: BFM TV
