The inaugural launch of the Spanish Miura-1 rocket, which was suspended in mid-June due to a technical problem, has been postponed until September due to the high risk of forest fires during the summer, the rocket’s manufacturer announced Tuesday.
The rocket, developed by the private Spanish company PLD Space, is scheduled to launch from a military base in the province of Huelva, on the Andalusian coast of southwestern Spain. However, the first launch attempt on May 31 was aborted due to high winds, and on a second attempt on June 17, the countdown was halted due to a technical problem in one of the launcher’s power connections.
After consulting with the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), the company decided to postpone the launch of Miura-1 until September due to the need to comply with forest fire prevention measures given the high temperatures recorded in Huelva.
The Andalusia region, where Huelva is located, experiences high temperatures during this time of the year, which increases the risk of forest fires, especially in a country that has been suffering from droughts in recent years.
The maiden flight of the Miura-1 is the first step towards the development of the Miura-5, a 35-meter-high reusable mini-space launcher that aims to put satellites weighing less than 500 kilograms into orbit starting in 2025. PLD Space announced last week that the Miura-5 will be launched from the Kourou space center in French Guiana.
With this announcement, PLD Space becomes the first private European company to seek to advance reusable satellite launchers.