Spain’s PLD Space launches private rocket

Target accomplished: Spanish startup PLD Space's first suborbital reusable "Miura 1" rocket is being launched at El Arenosillo military facility in Huelva, Spain. The rocket, named after a breed of fighting bull, is as tall as a three-storey building and has a 100-kg cargo capacity. — PLD Space/Handout via Reuters

MADRID: Spanish company PLD Space launched its recoverable Miura-1 rocket early on Saturday from a site in southwest Spain, carrying out Europe’s first fully private rocket launch in a glimmer of hope for the region’s stalled space ambitions.

The startup’s test nighttime launch from Huelva came after two previous attempts were scrubbed. The Miura-1 rocket, named after a breed of fighting bull, is as tall as a three-storey building and has a 100-kg cargo capacity.