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Date Published: 29/09/2023

Third time lucky for Spanish space rocket lift-off next month

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After two failed attempts, the Miura rocket will be launched from Huelva in October

Third time lucky for Spanish space rocket lift-off next month

They say that the third time’s the charm and that’s certainly the hope of Elche company PLD Space, whose rocket ‘Miura 1’ is scheduled for another launch attempt next month. The Médano del Loro military base, in Moguer, Huelva, reportedly has a number of lift-off options in October so the exact launch date won’t be chosen until a day or two beforehand.

It’s been an unlucky few months for the Spanish-made space rocket, which has yet to enter the stratosphere despite two previous launch attempts. At the end of June, the Elche manufacturers were forced to cancel the much anticipated take-off because of the huge risk of forest fires and the sweltering temperatures throughout Andalucia.

Earlier that month, on June 17, the packed military base waited with bated breath for the rocket to jet into space but at the very last second, one of the cables connecting the rocket to the avionics bay released 0.25 seconds late, causing an automatic abort sequence to shut down the engines.

And back in May, the shuttle didn’t even come close to the skies as gale-force winds once again scuppered the launch.

Assuming all goes well this time, the Miura’s flight should take six minutes, reaching an altitude on 80 kilometres, before it splashes down into the Atlantic Ocean, where it will be recovered by the PLD Space team.

The purpose of this ground-breaking project is to examine the operation of key technologies in flight, something that has never been done before. Essentially, through the rocket, scientists will be able to see how the machinery behaves under real conditions in space.

In addition, the mission will enable the ZARM Research Institute to study microgravity conditions, collecting information necessary to carry out scientific experiments in future suborbital flights.

In other news: Cadiz school shooting shocks Spain

Image: PLD Space

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