Spain's Miura 1 rocket launch postponed until September due to high temperatures and fire risk

The launch of Spain’s first reusable space rocket, the privately-developed Miura 1, has been postponed until September due to high temperatures at the launch site in Andalucía.

Soaring temperatures in Huelva, and the risk of forest fires, mean the launch would be too risky. The company that built the rocket, PLD Space, confirmed in a press statement that it hass agreed to follow the recommendations of the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) to schedule new launch windows from September.

It will be the third attempted launch of the rocket following an earlier suspension on 31 May due to strong wind gusts at the site. Then on 17 June, the company was forced to abort the launch at the last moment because of a technical issue.

PLD Space CEO and co-founder, Raul Torres, said launching a rocket designed from scratch is "a major challenge" and "99.9% of all pre-launch procedures were successfully completed last time, even the countdown".

"The entire pre-launch phase was a resounding success and we are very close to successfully launching Europe's first reusable rocket, which has recovery and reusability requirements that only three companies in space history have achieved," he added.

First European private rocket

Miura 1 is the first private European rocket to be launched into space.

Named after the famous Spanish breed of bulls, the Elche-based company, built the rocket as tall as a three-storey building. It is designed to lift loads of 250kg more than 150 km up in the air.

Miura 1 is planned to make a suborbital flight at a height of 150km, carrying a small load, but will not completely circle the Earth.

The rocket was unveiled, already assembled, in 2021, and in November 2022 the company announced that a full test of Miura 1 had been carried out.