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Elche (Spain), 10 September 2026. PLD Space, a global space transportation company, has announced that its first orbital launcher, MIURA 5, has entered the final stage of system-level validation ahead of its first demonstration flight from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The company has also presented the new specifications of the launcher previously known as MIURA 5 Block 1.2, which is now renamed MIURA 9. The vehicle triples MIURA 5’s performance and is being developed as part of PLD Space’s recently signed €158.9 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) under the European Launcher Challenge (ELC), aimed at providing upgraded orbital capabilities and developing the next generation of European private launchers.
These latest technological and industrial developments were presented during a visit to PLD Space’s headquarters in Elche by Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, accompanied by Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities. During the visit, they saw first-hand how PLD Space is contributing from Spain to building a complete, reliable, competitive and sovereign European capability for access to space.
Following the visit, Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, said: “The Spanish space sector is experiencing a record-breaking and highly optimistic moment. PLD Space is one of the best examples of the strength of Spain’s aerospace industry. The company has grown from a startup into a business with more than 500 professionals, men and women who embody the very best of the ‘Made in Spain’ label”.
Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, said that “this is a business, scientific, innovation and technological success and, above all, a success for an entire country, as we are witnessing one of the greatest technological milestones in the history of Spain’s space sector”.
Ezequiel Sánchez, Executive President of PLD Space, said: “We are building from Spain a global company capable of providing competitive access to space and contributing to Europe’s sovereign launch capability. We are focused on turning that strategic ambition into real industrial capacity, with competitive technology, quality jobs and value-added capital to grow at a global scale. Public-private collaboration has been key to enabling a Spanish project to compete on equal terms in the international market”.
MIURA 5 enters the final stage of system-level validation
PLD Space explained that its first orbital launcher, MIURA 5, is now in the final stage of system-level validation, which will allow the company to assess how the vehicle, ground infrastructure and launch operations perform together as an integrated system.
The company expects to ship the first flight unit of MIURA 5 to the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, in the coming months, from where they plan to launch the vehicle’s first demonstration flight in the first half of 2027. Civil works on the MIURA 5 launch infrastructures are now in their final phase, while the on-site integration of the launch platform and ground support equipment will begin this September.
MIURA 9, a solution for the European market
PLD Space unveiled the evolution in the design and performance of the vehicle previously presented by the company as MIURA 5 Block 1.2 in October 2024. The launcher’s commercial name is now MIURA 9, reflecting its greater scale and its status as a distinct vehicle within the MIURA family. Its development forms part of the €158.9 million contract signed with ESA under the European Launcher Challenge.
MIURA 9 is a two-stage launcher standing 42 metres tall and measuring 3 metres in diameter, with the capacity to place up to 1,500 kg into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Its first stage is powered by nine TEPREL engines, while the second stage incorporates a TEPREL Vacuum engine.
The European market is entering a new phase marked by the deployment of sovereign constellations such as IRIS², the European Union’s multi-orbit secure communications constellation. In this context, MIURA 9 is intended for dedicated missions involving medium-sized satellites, as well as the deployment and replenishment of constellations, offering institutional and commercial customers greater flexibility and control over their missions.
“MIURA 9 represents an opportunity for Spain to lead Europe’s access to space, enabling missions developed entirely in Europe to be launched from the continent, contributing to strategic programmes such as IRIS² and maximising the domestic industrial return from major European programmes,” said Ezequiel Sánchez, Executive President of PLD Space.
MIURA 9 is also designed to evolve towards full reusability through propulsive landing, with the aim of increasing flight cadence and improving the competitiveness of the launch service.
The development of MIURA 9 builds on the technologies, systems and processes developed for MIURA 5, following PLD Space’s technology transfer strategy to reduce risk and accelerate development. In turn, the advances achieved with MIURA 9 will feed into MIURA Next, the company’s future family of heavy-lift launchers. In this way, each generation provides a solid and proven technological and industrial foundation for the next, creating a continuous development path while progressively reducing development times and risks.
PLD Space as an industrial and talent driver
The event also highlighted PLD Space’s role as an industrial driver, as the company develops a competitive value chain for the European space industry. Through the MIURA 5 programme, PLD Space has activated an industrial ecosystem that strengthens Spain’s space economy and develops strategic capabilities.
Since 2024, PLD Space has invested more than €42.7 million in its Spanish supply chain, working with more than 493 Spanish companies, 95% of them SMEs. The MIURA 5 programme alone has contributed to the creation of more than 1,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs in Spain. PLD Space now employs more than 550 people, quadrupling its workforce since the launch of MIURA 1, with the majority working in engineering and manufacturing technical roles.
About PLD Space
PLD Space is a global pioneering aerospace manufacturer and small satellite launch service provider, on a mission to unlock rapid, reliable, sustainable access to space for innovative space organizations, research institutes, commercial and institutional customers from all over the world. The company is vertically integrating the engineering, testing, manufacturing, and operations of its reusable and sustainable rockets. Headquartered in Elche (Spain) and founded in 2011 by Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú, PLD Space has established itself as a global benchmark in the small satellite launch sector. Its family of MIURA launchers and LINCE crewed capsule position the company as a leader in European technological sovereignty for space transportation, covering the full spectrum of space missions.
With a team of more than 550 employees, PLD Space operates over 188,000 m² of facilities in Elche, Teruel (Spain), Kourou (French Guiana), and Duqm (Oman), enabling the company to provide comprehensive satellite and payload launch services into space.
