Credit: PLD Space
Spanish launch services provider PLD Space has secured a €30 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), a month after closing a €180 million Series C funding round. The company is currently preparing for the inaugural flight of its MIURA 5 rocket, scheduled for later this year.
PLD Space made the announcement on 7 April, explaining that the loan would fund “the final development stage” of its MIURA 5 rocket. While the company did not disclose detailed terms of the loan, it confirmed that the financing would take the form of venture debt, which is repaid directly over time rather than exchanged for equity. Its Series C funding, in contrast, is focused on what comes next, with the company scaling production and industrial infrastructure as it prepares to transition to commercial operations following what it hopes will be a successful inaugural launch.
“As space becomes increasingly strategic, access is no longer a luxury. It is essential to our security, our economy, and our future,” said the European Union’s Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius. “That is why the European Union is committed to ensuring independent and reliable access to space. By backing innovative European companies, we are building a strong, competitive, and resilient launch industry.”
With the securing of its EIB loan, PLD Space has now secured approximately €380 million. This figure, however, does not include the €169 million committed by the Spanish government as part of the European Space Agency’s European Launcher Challenge. This funding will be used to subsidise flights aboard MIURA 5 and to fund the development of an upgraded variant of the rocket.
The two-stage MIURA 5 rocket will initially be launched from a new multi-user commercial launch facility being built on the grounds of the Guiana Space Centre. The rocket is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. While, to begin with, the rocket will be launched in an expendable configuration, future variants of the rocket will include a first stage that can be recovered and reused.
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