ESA has selected Spanish launch company PLD Space for a €158.9M award covering Components A and B of the European Launcher Challenge, the agency’s push to rebuild sovereign access to orbit.
The Elche-based company will use the funding to develop upgraded orbital capacity for its MIURA 5 rocket, with key subsystems engineered for direct transfer to the MIURA Next family of heavy launchers.
The award caps a banner year for the 2011-founded company. PLD Space raised an €180M Series C in March, added a €30M European Investment Bank venture-debt facility in April, and secured €35M in June toward its launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre. Its roadmap spans the MIURA 1 demonstrator, the orbital MIURA 5 and the LINCE crewed capsule.
Founders Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú have built PLD Space into a flagship of European launch sovereignty, vertically integrating engineering, testing, manufacturing and operations. Executive president Ezequiel Sánchez calls the ESA award confirmation of a roadmap built on technology, industry and execution under European control, at a moment when Europe is reshaping its launch landscape around resilience and independence.
