PLD Space Conducts MIURA 5 Testing at Full Capacity Within the Largest Private Test Facilities in Europe
PLD Space, an international space transport company, is operating its test infrastructures at full capacity at Teruel Airport, where it boasts over 155,000 square meters of surface area with 10 test benches for MIURA 5. These facilities, entirely designed and managed by the company, represent the largest private launcher testing capability in Europe and a strategic asset within PLD Space's vertical integration model.
Qualification tests for the various subsystems comprising MIURA 5 are progressing daily at full speed on the different test benches. These infrastructures enable PLD Space to manufacture and test a component in less than 24 hours, granting it full operational independence with unparalleled quality control and development timelines in Europe.
"Test like you fly" facilities
The "Test like you fly" philosophy defines the company's development strategy: each launcher subsystem is tested under conditions equivalent to flight. This methodology allows for maximum knowledge acquisition regarding system performance before launch, reducing development times and ensuring the reliability of flight hardware.
“Reliability is built through testing. Our Teruel infrastructures provide us with absolute control over each rocket component, shortening timelines and ensuring the highest technical quality. They are an essential part of our vertical integration model,” highlights Raúl Torres, CEO and co-founder of PLD Space.
The experience gained during the development of MIURA 1, PLD Space's technological demonstrator, has enabled the company to generate valuable knowledge in subsystem testing and qualification. Over a decade, the team has built its own facilities and procedures, laying the groundwork for the current testing system that drives MIURA 5's validation.
Unprecedented testing capability in Europe
These infrastructures currently house 10 test benches (eight already operational and two to be ready by year-end), custom-designed by PLD Space's engineering team and dedicated to the validation of MIURA 5's main subsystems: engines, critical propulsion hardware (combustion chambers, turbopumps, and gas generators), tanks, complete second stage, stage separation, as well as valves and umbilicals. Thanks to this infrastructure, the company can conduct simultaneous tests and collect real-time data on all vehicle systems.
The Teruel location, just a three-and-a-half-hour drive from PLD Space's headquarters in Elche, enables agile synchronization between manufacturing and engineering teams, reducing the time between component development and its validation to just one day.
This unprecedented rocket testing capability allows for the validation of MIURA 5's critical launcher subsystems, accelerating technical iteration cycles and reducing time to market.
“Thanks to our testing infrastructures, we can design, manufacture, and validate hardware in a single day. This agility has enabled us to develop an orbital launcher in two years, at a speed, efficiency, and reliability unprecedented in Europe,” states Ezequiel Sánchez, Executive President of PLD Space.
Technological Foundation for MIURA 5's Future
The test infrastructures have been key to the technological evolution of the TEPREL-C engine, the most powerful privately developed engine in Europe (190 kN), and in the validation of MIURA 5's tanks and mechanisms. Currently, all launcher subsystems are undergoing qualification and flight validation, with the goal of commencing the first launch campaign in early 2026.
With these infrastructures, PLD Space not only reinforces its position as a European leader in space transport but also consolidates a strategic industrial and technological capability for the space sovereignty of Spain and Europe.