The rocket Miura 1 It was lost in the Atlantic after its flight last Saturday. This aircraft, created to develop the future satellite launcher of the Spanish company PLD Space, had been conceived as recoverable to apply this characteristic to the final models so that they can be reconditioned and used in new launches. The first prototype was scheduled to be rescued from the sea, taken to the port of Mazagón in Huelva, next to the INTA base (National Institute of Aerospace Technology) from where it took off, and then transferred to Teruel to carry out checks. Already during the demonstration flight, Roberto Palacios, PLD Space systems engineer, warned that this phase was not the “focus,” that it was not a priority. The company has confirmed that it is considered lost: “It has not been possible to complete this historic mission with the recovery of Miura 1 of the ocean.”
He Miura 1 It had trajectory tracking systems and the area where it fell is known, but, as it is a prototype that will not be reused as a launcher, it is not worth tracking the seabed to recover the remains, since the flight data are sufficient. for the development of the definitive model.
This eventuality has not prevented the company from considering the mission a success for the most part, in terms of “the primary objectives.” As reported by PLD Space, the launch has managed to test “all technologies in flight.” “The secondary objectives of the mission were also all covered, including aerodynamic validation and control of the launcher on reentry, as well as parachute ejection and final braking,” the company adds.
The mission had an unavoidable condition: maximizing security. And this led to modifying some aspects of the initially planned flight. The apogee, the maximum height, was reduced to 46 kilometers, 34 less than expected. “For safety, we changed the trajectory to increase the portion of it over the Atlantic, stretching it and lowering the peak,” explains Raúl Torres, co-founder of the company.
The decision also meant reducing the aerodynamic load and the engine thrust time from 122 seconds to 103. “We had uncertainty in the real thrust. It was good for us to make this change,” the engineer justified.
For Torres, this modification, in addition to providing greater security, has made it possible to demonstrate that the Miura 1 It is a “robust vehicle” with the ability to “adapt to different trajectories successfully based on need.” “We have covered all the objectives and we have made history. We are ready to take on the development of the Miura 5. The big thing is on the way,” says Torres.
This launcher, which will be developed over the next two years, will be 34.4 meters long and capable of carrying loads of up to 540 kilos. His “little brother”, as he is known in the company, had dimensions of 12 meters long and 70 centimeters in diameter. It transported two experiments from PLD Space and 100 kilos of material from the German Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM institute at the University of Bremen).
The cost of Miura 1 It has been 65 million euros. From now on, another 60 million will have to be added for the complete development of the definitive commercial rocket. The firm, which has had a 30% public financing, has 150 workers and financial commitments to reach the final model. In fact, they are already expanding the facilities.
The executive president of PLD Space, Ezequiel Sánchez, estimates that they need to reach 160 million to reach the break-even point. From there, with the technological developments learned, the objective is to schedule 14 annual launches at an average cost for PLD Space of below five million each, with which to make the company profitable in an emerging market.
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