Chinook Dropped First Stage Of Miura 5 Rocket In Experiment

Spain’s PLD Space, supported by ESA, has demonstrated the technologies needed for a reusable first stage of their orbital microlauncher, Miura 5.

Miura 5 (formerly Arion 2) is designed to provide dedicated launches for small satellites of up to 660 pounds to low Earth orbit, in 2021. It weighs 14 tons at liftoff, and is powered by liquid oxygen–kerosene engines.

This drop test was carried out last week at the El Arenosillo Experimentation Center in Spain. A Chinook CH-47 helicopter lifted the 50-foot long 4.5-foot diameter Miura 5 demonstration first stage to an altitude of 3.1 miles, then dropped it over a controlled area of the Atlantic Ocean, 3.7 miles off the coast of Huelva in southern Spain.

During the descent, electronic systems inside the demonstrator controlled a carefully timed release of three parachutes to slow it down until its splashdown at a speed of about 32 feet/second.

A team of divers recovered the demonstrator and hoisted it onto a tugboat, which returned to the port of Mazagón. The demonstrator looks to be in good shape and will now be transported to PLD Space, in Elche, for inspection and further analysis.

The same parachute system will also be used on their Miura 1 suborbital microlauncher, on track for a first launch this year.

In a next step, PLD Space intends to develop a propulsive landing system in addition to the parachutes. These technologies are being developed with support from ESA's Future Launchers Preparatory Program.

(Image provided with ESA news release)

FMI: www.esa.int