PLD Space

PLD Space is the Spanish launch technology startup developing MIURA 5, a reusable orbital rocket designed to carry payloads of up to 450 kilograms into sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at competitive cost. Founded in Alicante, with test facilities located across Spain, PLD Space is one of the very few private European players with the capability to develop a complete orbital launcher — a market historically dominated by the institutional giant Arianespace and, on the commercial side, by SpaceX. The company's track record already includes a significant milestone. In 2023, MIURA 1 — PLD Space's suborbital rocket — completed a successful test flight, becoming the first privately developed Spanish rocket to reach space. It was a rare achievement for a European space startup and validated the engineering team's capabilities before moving on to the far more complex challenge of orbital flight. MIURA 5 is the logical next step: a small-lift orbital launcher built to serve the growing demand for dedicated launches from smallsat constellation operators and scientific missions that cannot — or prefer not to — wait for a rideshare slot on a larger rocket. Speed to orbit, payload flexibility, and dedicated scheduling are the value proposition, and they address a genuine gap in the European launch market. With more than €210 million raised in total — including a €30 million venture debt facility from the European Investment Bank — PLD Space has the financial runway to complete MIURA 5's development and approach a first orbital flight. The EIB's involvement is particularly meaningful: it signals technical confidence in the project at an institutional level and opens doors to European government contracts at a moment when the ESA and national space agencies are actively looking for credible European alternatives to SpaceX. For Europe's ambitions of launch sovereignty, PLD Space is one of the most concrete bets on the table.