PLD Space is a Spanish company founded in 2011 with the aim of providing access to space to the small satellite industry through the development of a reusable launch system. Its orbital launcher, MIURA 5, has a capacity of 540 kg to 500 km SSO up to 1000 kg to equatorial orbits. It will launch for the first time in 2025 from Kourou, French Guiana. Fuelled by well-known, sustainable, liquid propellants, viz. LOx and bio-kerosene, MIURA 5 is a simple, robust rocket with re-ignition capabilities. It also has an optional kick-stage for increased orbital insertion accuracy. PLD Space’s headquarters are in Elche, Spain, with private test facilities in Teruel. Standard service offering is priced at €8.500.000, which puts us in the middle of the market from a €/kg perspective. Taking unit costs into consideration, a gross profit of 43% is generated given that MIURA 5 booster stage is reusable up to 3 times. Up to 40% of launch cost is payable only after a successful launch, in line with our customer-centric approach. The non-megaconstellation small satellite market - that market most likely to make use of small launchers - is expected to sit at an annual average of €1.7B/year between 2023-2031. However, excluding the likes of Chinese and Russian satellites, as well as institutional satellites from space-faring countries such as the US and India, puts PLD Space’s addressable market at €377 M/year. PLD Space is highly vertically integrated, with almost all design, development and manufacturing taking place in-house. When sub-contracting is required, however, PLD Space targets Spanish and European suppliers. Only about 7% of MIURA 5’s total cost is expected to be distributed to non-European suppliers. In short, MIURA 5, a vehicle that is not only developed and manufactured in Europe, but also launched from a European territory, will serve as Europe’s answer to the likes of Rocket Lab and SSLV, providing cost-effective access to space for small satellites globally.
