HUELVA, Spain (Reuters) – Spanish startup PLD Space called off the test launch of its first suborbital reusable rocket scheduled for Wednesday morning, citing strong high-altitude winds.
The company said it intended to try again in the coming days.
PLD Space’s test is set to be its first step in the race to put small satellites into space and capture a slice of a potential trillion-dollar market.
The launch from a military aerospace research centre in Huelva, southern Spain, would have been the first in Western Europe by a private company.
Europe’s efforts to develop capabilities to send small satellites into space are in focus after a failed orbital rocket launch by Virgin Orbit from Britain in January.
PLD Space’s “Miura 1” rocket, named after a breed of fighting bulls, is as tall as a three-storey building and has a 100-kg (220-lb) cargo capacity. It can also be used to carry out zero-gravity experiments.
The test will gather as much data as possible to build “Miura 5”, an orbital rocket which is being developed and would be tested from a space centre in French Guiana.
(Reporting by Jon Nazca and Inti Landauro; Editing by Emma Pinedo and Mark Potter)
