Credit: PLD Space
Spanish rocket builder PLD Space has revealed that it expects to be producing one TEPREL-C rocket engine every two weeks by the end of 2025.
PLD Space is developing a 35.7-metre-tall, two-stage rocket called MIURA 5 that is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The rocket will be launched from a new commercial launch facility on the grounds of the Guiana Space Centre.
In a 14 October update, the company detailed several recent milestones as it prepares for the inaugural flight of its MIURA 5 rocket. It has completed the launch system’s Critical Design Review, confirming that it is ready for full-scale production. Additionally, PLD Space has finished the first phase of the Flight Safety Validation process with the French space agency CNES, a requirement for conducting operations from the Guiana Space Centre.
On the hardware side, the company has completed eight tanks for the MIURA 5 core and upper stages. The company has also completed a burst test of a full-scale prototype of a MIURA 5 first-stage booster, validating the structural performance of the tank under cryogenic temperatures and extreme pressure conditions.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it had begun hot-fire testing its TEPREL-C Vac rocket engine, which will power the MIURA 5 upper stage. Once this testing campaign is complete, PLD Space will be ready to begin producing one TEPREL-C engine every 14 days, a production rate it aims to achieve by the end of the year.
In French Guiana, PLD Space has become the first operator to begin civil works at the Guiana Space Centre’s new commercial launch facility. The site will be capable of hosting up to five launch providers, with a combined annual capacity of no more than 40 launches. CNES is leading the construction of the site’s shared infrastructure at a cost of €50 million, while each operator is responsible for its own dedicated facilities, including the launch pad. The MIURA 5 launch pad itself is being manufactured in Spain and will be shipped across the Atlantic once complete.
With significant progress being made in the development of the rocket and its associated systems, PLD Space aims to have the first fully integrated MIURA 5 ready by the end of the year. The company will then begin preparations for the inaugural flight, which is slated to take place in 2026.
PLD Space aims to build one rocket engine every two weeks by the end of 2025, as it prepares for the inaugural flight of its MIURA 5 rocket in 2026.