Spanish rocket builder PLD Space has successfully completed a burst test of a full-scale prototype of its MIURA 5 first stage booster.
PLD Space was founded in 2011 and is developing a range of launch vehicles from its small single-stage suborbital MIURA 1 to the multi-booster MIURA Next Super Heavy rocket, which is designed to carry payloads of up to 53,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. However, to date, the company has only completed a single launch of its MIURA 1 rocket, which reached a maximum altitude of 46 kilometres. MIURA 5 will be the company’s first rocket capable of reaching orbit and is designed to be partially reusable through the recovery of its first stage.
In preparation for the inaugural flight of MIURA 5, the company announced on 16 September that it had completed a burst test of a full-scale prototype of the rocket’s first stage booster. The test subjected the stage to pressures beyond its intended operating limits to determine the point of structural failure.
According to the PLD Space update, the test validated the structural performance of the tank under cryogenic temperatures and extreme pressure conditions. The company will now proceed with a fully integrated qualification model of the stage that includes all the elements required for flight.
The announcement of the successful burst test is the latest in a flurry of development milestones the company has achieved over the past month. On 25 August, the company announced that it was in the process of qualification and acceptance campaigns for the turbopump that will be fitted to its TEPREL-C rocket engines. According to PLD Space, the hardware is now ready for integrated hot-fire testing. The company also reported that it had completed the first of its TEPREL-Cvac engines, which will power the rocket’s upper stage, and was preparing for the engine’s qualification test campaign.
On 8 September, the company announced the successful completion of a structural test campaign of its carbon-composite interstage, which connects the rocket’s first stage to its second. The interstage was subjected to a barrage of tests to ensure it could withstand the structural loads it would experience during launch. According to the company, the interstage “behaved successfully as expected, meeting all test needs and consolidating the architecture for the flight’s serial production.”
Every completed test and development milestone moves PLD Space nearer to its target of launching MIURA 5 from the Guiana Space Centre in 2026.