At the beginning of April, PLD Space successfully completed the first ‘wet dress rehearsal’ of the MIURA 1. In other words, the Spanish company was able to successfully carry out all the steps of the rocket launch process (propellant loading and pressurization of tanks included).
Only one thing was missing to have everything ready before launch: the ‘hot test’, the static ignition. Well then, PLD Space just announced you just did it successfully. And best of all, we have pictures.
What exactly is the Miura-1? PLD Space was born ten years ago with the aim of “creating the first Spanish space launcher”. In this sense, the Miura-1 suborbital rocket (with its 12.5 meters in length, its 70 cm diameter and its mass of two and a half tons) is the first step towards the first truly operational commercial Spanish orbital shuttle, Miura-1. 5.
In fact, the Miura 1 will serve to “test up to 70% of the technologies” that will later form part of the final rocket. Until that 2025 in which the MIURA-5 was planned, a lot remains: not only the experimental flight of the next few days , but the coming-out of the 1 in French Guiana in 2023.
The important thing is that it seems that we are closer.
Static ignition, on video. The video lasts just one minute and nine seconds. The test, as its name suggests, are only five. Still, the images are impressive. PLD Space is well aware that this is not only a technical milestone in its particular space career, but that it is a key moment in the graphic definition that the public will develop on it. And the images live up to it, heralding a very exciting launch.
When will it be released? Although everything indicates that it will be in the next few days, no one waits for PLD Space to reveal the launch date well in advance. There are several reasons, but the main one is that (being an experimental flight and already having the approval of the administration) it will not be done until there is a high probability of success.
That requires debugging all the technical details that arise, yes; but also be very attentive to the weather. Something that, taking into account the instability (and unpredictability) of the coming weeks, is going to be a key issue.
From Xataka we are following the launch very closely and, as usual, we will cover the first experimental flight of the MIURA-1. Not surprisingly, the Spanish space race is about to experience a historic moment.
In Xataka | The release of the Miura-1 is just around the corner, this is how fans are trying to find out the exact date
Imagen | PLD Space
