Operator Arianespace said it had discovered a "risk to the redundancy of a critical function" and had decided to postpone the roll-out.Īnalyses are underway to determine a new launch date, it said on its Twitter feed. The setback at the smallest end of the size scale came hours after the postponement of the last ever launch of Europe's largest, the premier Ariane 5 space launcher, from Kourou in French Guiana. It can also be used to carry out zero-gravity experiments.Īn earlier attempt to carry out a suborbital test mission in late May was postponed due to strong high-altitude winds. 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-pound) cargo capacity. That system involved releasing the launcher from a converted Boeing 747. The suborbital mission from a military aerospace research centre would have been the first of its kind in Western Europe.Įurope'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. The launch was halted after not all the "umbilical cables in the avionics bay were released," the company said. Launching a rocket is very difficult, but we are getting closer and closer. Raul Torres, CEO and co-founder of PLD Space, said in a statement that: "99.9% of all processes have been successful. The launch in Huelva in southwest Spain was scrubbed after the countdown had reached zero, with flames and smoke briefly shooting sideways from the launchpad, images showed. (Reuters) -Spanish startup PLD Space aborted a test launch of its reusable Miura-1 rocket at the last moment early on Saturday in the latest setback to European attempts to develop mainland launch capacity for small payloads.
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