PLD Space/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMADRID, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Spanish startup PLD Space will attempt a test launch of its reusable Miura-1 rocket early on Saturday, spearheading a new generation of 'microlaunchers' after an aborted attempt in June.
The rocket is due to lift off on its suborbital test mission at 2 a.m Spanish time on Saturday (0000 GMT) from Huelva in southwest Spain, marking what its designers say will be Europe's first fully private rocket launch.
"The day has arrived," Raul Torres, PLD Space chief executive and co-founder of PLD Space, wrote on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
Europe's efforts to develop capabilities to send small satellites into space are in focus after a failed orbital rocket launch by Virgin Orbit from Britain in January.
In July, the last launch of Europe's largest rocket, the premier Ariane 5 space launcher, took place at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Persons:
Raul Torres, Space's Miura, Italy's Vega, Vega, Emma Pinedo, Tim Hepher, Tim Hepther, Aislinn Laing, Edmund Blair
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, Spanish, Space, Twitter, Virgin Orbit, Boeing, Ariane, European Space Agency, Thomson
Locations:
El, Huelva, Spain, Rights MADRID, Britain, Europe, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Kourou, French Guiana