Enlarge / The Miura 1 rocket takes flight from Southern Spain. (credit: PLD Space)
A Spanish launch company claimed success on Saturday after its suborbital Miura 1 rocket lifted off and achieved an altitude of 46 km before plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.
Saturday's launch from Southern Spain is exciting for several reasons, but most notably because PLD Space is the first of Europe's new space launch companies to have some credible success. To that end, Saturday's modest flight represented the dawn of the European commercial space age.
"This launch culminates over 12 years of relentless effort, yet it marks just the start of our journey," said PLD Space Launch director and co-founder Raúl Torres in a statement after the launch. "This test flight has yielded valuable data, enabling us to validate crucial design elements and technologies that will underpin the development of our Miura 5 orbital launcher."
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