We are ready and committed. Developing a new family of small rocket launchers for suborbital and orbital markets, ARION-1 & ARION-2, PLD Space pretends to contribute to the european aerospace sector growth, providing fiability and innovation
PLD Space pretends to contribute to the european aerospace sector growth, providing fiability and innovation
PLD Space pretends to contribute...
Ignition test for a Spanish rockethttp://pldspace.com/https://twitter.com/PLD_Space
Nice video, I only don't understand Spanish and the translated subtitles aren't working. What I could see was that the old design for Arion 1 was presented. It changed in 2015.Here is an article (spanish), and one in english with the new design.PLDspace is also involved in a Horison2020 project:
PLD just got spanish government contract. Not big but a good boost for their prospects
PLD Space ambition is to launch ARION 1 by the end of 2018 as Europe´s first liquid-fueled reusable launcher.Meanwhile at PLD Space’s headquarters in Elche, engineers are working in the three major subsystems (propulsion, structures and avionics) of the ARION 1 micro-launcher to meet its first maiden flight by the end of 2018.
Peter B. de Selding @pbdes 8m8 minutes agoGMV(1) invests in Spanish rocket startup PLD Space, brings PLD to EUR 6.7M frm public/private sector, to supply GNC for PLD's Arion rockets.
Peter B. de Selding @pbdes 5m5 minutes agoGMV(2): @PLDSpace suborbital Arion1 to launch 2018 frm Spain. Arion2 for smallsats targets 2020 launch. @infoGMV CEO Serrano on PLD board.
#FirstFlight engine hardware material arrieves at @PLD_Space headquarters. Test hardware assembled soon. #GoPLD
Quote#FirstFlight engine hardware material arrieves at @PLD_Space headquarters. Test hardware assembled soon. #GoPLD
Quote from: eeergo on 06/05/2017 01:39 PMQuote#FirstFlight engine hardware material arrieves at @PLD_Space headquarters. Test hardware assembled soon. #GoPLDwhat is the size?Diameter 40 cm and length 120 cm?
They are showing some progress:After 2 years of liquid rocket engine testing, performing dozens of hot firings, at PLD Space we are ready to accomplish our next giant leap.https://twitter.com/PLD_Space/status/879379322821386240
El nuevo motor cohete regenerativo de @PLD_Space ruge con fuerza. Comportamiento mecánico y térmico nominal. Muy pronto vídeo completo.The new regenerative(ly-cooled) rocket engine from PLD_Space roars powerfully. Mechanical and thermal behaviors are nominal. Complete video coming up very soon.
First hotfire of Spain startup @PLD_Space's regeneratively cooled engine for upcoming #Arion1 microlauncher vehicle 🚀youtu.be/xRm4zaoZjCI
@PLD_Space is ready to unveil its new own facilities next week. Here we have a first advance of how it looks like. #RocketFactory #NewSpace
PLD Space @PLD_Space 22m22 minutes agoUnfortunately this year @PLD_Space couldn´t attend the #IAC2017. We are working really hard, major announcement soon! Keep an eye!
@PLD_Space is please to show for the first time how our beast will be. HD Artist Conception. Meet ARION 1, Our technological demonstrator.
As you may know, next week @PLD_Space will announce a huge step forward in the ARION European #Microlauncher development program. “Paulatim Ergo Certe”. #ARION #European #Reusable #Microlauncher
IT IS OFFICIAL: @PLD_Space awarded 2 Million Euro grant from the European Commission for the ARION #microlauncher programme #Europe #Space #Launchers
This financial support from the #EC is currently the biggest public support to PLD Space and one of the biggest European public supports for SMEs. #ARION is strategic for Europe´s Independence and Competitiveness.
With the European Commission, joined to the Spanish Government and to the European Space Agency, @PLD_Space has now the support of the 3 more important European institutions to develop a #Microlauncher. More than 30 private investors has also been joined to #ARION
The company and #ARION has also been supported by European space-related personalities, such as Mr. Franco Malerba, the first Italian astronaut who flew in the Space Shuttle @NASA Mission STS-46 and member of the European Parliament.
"Thanks to this strategical institutional support we are closer to have all the necessary support and resources for a fully commercial launch service dedicated to small payloads in Europe , and be one of the 10 worldwide countries with launch capabilities" - Raúl Torres, CEO.
the technologies that will be directly transferred to ARION 2, PLD Space´s proposed Spanish small satellite launcher, which will be entirely produced by European industry.
“This support strengthens the position of PLD Space in the space industry and increases the confidence of private investors. We are now ready to the next step forward in our company, the closing of an A2 investment round of 8 million Euro very soon”. - Raúl Verdú, CBO.
The company PLD Space continues with its ambitious goal of becoming the first Spanish company to build an orbital launcher. And today we have great news, because the European space agency (ESA) has chosen PLD Space as the main contractor of the LPSR (Liquid Propulsion Stage Recovery) program to develop a reusable first stage. Come on, a kind of SpaceX to the Spanish.To put ourselves in a position, remember that PLD Space is developing two rockets, the Arion 1 and the Arion 2. The Arion 1 will be a single-stage suborbital launcher, while the Arion 2 will be able to put satellites in low Earth orbit - and even more there- thanks to its three stages. Precisely PLD Space intends to use these launchers as demonstrators of ESA's LPSR program, a program in which other Spanish companies such as COMET Engineering and Tecnalia-CTA Technology Center will also participate. The contract of the LPSR program amounts to 750,000 euros.The objective of PLD Space is therefore to provide the Arion 2 with a reusable first stage, although previously they will carry out test flights with the Arion 1. So, does this mean that we are going to see a Spanish rocket returning to the launching pad as the Falcon? 9 from SpaceX? Not quite. Precisely the LPSR program must identify which technologies are the most suitable for the recovery and reuse of the first stages of liquid fuel rockets. In the Arion 1 reuse technologies associated with both the supersonic phase of flight and the subsonic will be tested. The techniques of reuse that will be tested in the Arion 1 will be more traditional and will consist of parachutes (both supersonic and subsonic), although the possibility of using controlled paragliders or ballutes, a mixture of parachutes and balloon that was very popular, will also be studied. in the 60s (in fact it was proposed as a braking medium for the MAR manned landing module). In addition, Arion 1 flights will test the benefits of new thermal protection systems (TPS) of the coping - remember that this suborbital launcher will reenter the atmosphere with the nose ahead - and other technologies to reduce the adverse effects of corrosion due to seawater.The first flight of Arion 1 is scheduled for the end of 2018 and, depending on the success of this vector, the Arion 2 will follow in 2020 (obviously, no one will be shocked if there is finally some delay in these plans). A possible mission of the Arion 1 within the LPSR program could be the following: the rocket takes off from the base of El Arenosillo (Huelva) and 40 seconds later exceeds the speed of sound. About 110 seconds after the launch, the engine shuts off at an altitude of 80 kilometers and two minutes later the rocket reaches its peak at 220 kilometers. 390 seconds after the takeoff, reentry into the atmosphere would begin, which the rocket would carry out with the cap pointing towards the ground, as if it were an arrow. At 420 seconds of the mission the supersonic parachute would be deployed and at 510 seconds it would be the turn of the two larger subsonic parachutes. Finally, the landing in the Atlantic would take place 700 seconds after takeoff. Prior to this mission, a test of Arion 1 will be conducted by launching it from a military cargo plane to test the sequence of events related to the landing.For its part, the Arion 2 will have a more advanced reuse system that will make use of the vehicle's engines. However, returning the first stage of Arion 2 to almost the launch ramp in a similar way to Falcon 9 is another matter. Why? Because this launcher is already quite small in itself and carry the necessary fuel for reuse would reduce its load capacity to practically zero. For this reason what PLD Space will do within the LPSR program is to recover the first stage of the Arion 2 using rocket engines, yes, but also parachutes, as well as nitrogen propellers and supersonic ailerons similar to those used by SpaceX on top of the first stage of the Falcon 9 (ailerons, by the way, that are used in the emergency escape system, SAS, of the Soyuz). Nitrogen thrusters and supersonic ailerons would allow to maintain control of the vehicle from the supersonic phase to landing. In the final, subsonic phase, the two motors of the first stage would be added to guarantee a vectorial control of the descent and allow to delimit the landing zone with great precision. In order to reduce the technological gap between the Arion 1 and the Arion 2 PLD Space wants to test the Arion 1.5, an improved version of the Arion 1 with two stages, the first of which will be more powerful. Although it will also be a suborbital vector, the Arion 1.5 will have a second stage that will be placed on a trajectory that simulates an orbital launch.Although there are currently several initiatives within the ESA to create reusable launch systems, this is the first time that the European agency - and not the various space agencies of the EU countries - decides to bet on the development of technologies for recovering complete stages of liquid fuel launchers, techniques that at the moment only dominate the North American companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. And the good news is that these technologies will be tested on Spanish rockets. PLD Space now has a huge challenge ahead: to prove that not only are they capable of launching rockets, but they can also recover them. Whether they succeed or not, they will undoubtedly make history. From here we wish you all the luck of the world. I bear witness that they deserve it.]The company PLD Space continues with its ambitious goal of becoming the first Spanish company to build an orbital launcher. And today we have great news, because the European space agency (ESA) has chosen PLD Space as the main contractor of the LPSR (Liquid Propulsion Stage Recovery) program to develop a reusable first stage. Come on, a kind of SpaceX to the Spanish.To put ourselves in a position, remember that PLD Space is developing two rockets, the Arion 1 and the Arion 2. The Arion 1 will be a single-stage suborbital launcher, while the Arion 2 will be able to put satellites in low Earth orbit - and even more there- thanks to its three stages. Precisely PLD Space intends to use these launchers as demonstrators of ESA's LPSR program, a program in which other Spanish companies such as COMET Engineering and Tecnalia-CTA Technology Center will also participate. The contract of the LPSR program amounts to 750,000 euros.The objective of PLD Space is therefore to provide the Arion 2 with a reusable first stage, although previously they will carry out test flights with the Arion 1. So, does this mean that we are going to see a Spanish rocket returning to the launching pad as the Falcon? 9 from SpaceX? Not quite. Precisely the LPSR program must identify which technologies are the most suitable for the recovery and reuse of the first stages of liquid fuel rockets. In the Arion 1 reuse technologies associated with both the supersonic phase of flight and the subsonic will be tested. The techniques of reuse that will be tested in the Arion 1 will be more traditional and will consist of parachutes (both supersonic and subsonic), although the possibility of using controlled paragliders or ballutes, a mixture of parachutes and balloon that was very popular, will also be studied. in the 60s (in fact it was proposed as a braking medium for the MAR manned landing module). In addition, Arion 1 flights will test the benefits of new thermal protection systems (TPS) of the coping - remember that this suborbital launcher will reenter the atmosphere with the nose ahead - and other technologies to reduce the adverse effects of corrosion due to seawater.The first flight of Arion 1 is scheduled for the end of 2018 and, depending on the success of this vector, the Arion 2 will follow in 2020 (obviously, no one will be shocked if there is finally some delay in these plans). A possible mission of the Arion 1 within the LPSR program could be the following: the rocket takes off from the base of El Arenosillo (Huelva) and 40 seconds later exceeds the speed of sound. About 110 seconds after the launch, the engine shuts off at an altitude of 80 kilometers and two minutes later the rocket reaches its peak at 220 kilometers. 390 seconds after the takeoff, reentry into the atmosphere would begin, which the rocket would carry out with the cap pointing towards the ground, as if it were an arrow. At 420 seconds of the mission the supersonic parachute would be deployed and at 510 seconds it would be the turn of the two larger subsonic parachutes. Finally, the landing in the Atlantic would take place 700 seconds after takeoff. Prior to this mission, a test of Arion 1 will be conducted by launching it from a military cargo plane to test the sequence of events related to the landing.For its part, the Arion 2 will have a more advanced reuse system that will make use of the vehicle's engines. However, returning the first stage of Arion 2 to almost the launch ramp in a similar way to Falcon 9 is another matter. Why? Because this launcher is already quite small in itself and carry the necessary fuel for reuse would reduce its load capacity to practically zero. For this reason what PLD Space will do within the LPSR program is to recover the first stage of the Arion 2 using rocket engines, yes, but also parachutes, as well as nitrogen propellers and supersonic ailerons similar to those used by SpaceX on top of the first stage of the Falcon 9 (ailerons, by the way, that are used in the emergency escape system, SAS, of the Soyuz). Nitrogen thrusters and supersonic ailerons would allow to maintain control of the vehicle from the supersonic phase to landing. In the final, subsonic phase, the two motors of the first stage would be added to guarantee a vectorial control of the descent and allow to delimit the landing zone with great precision. In order to reduce the technological gap between the Arion 1 and the Arion 2 PLD Space wants to test the Arion 1.5, an improved version of the Arion 1 with two stages, the first of which will be more powerful. Although it will also be a suborbital vector, the Arion 1.5 will have a second stage that will be placed on a trajectory that simulates an orbital launch.Although there are currently several initiatives within the ESA to create reusable launch systems, this is the first time that the European agency - and not the various space agencies of the EU countries - decides to bet on the development of technologies for recovering complete stages of liquid fuel launchers, techniques that at the moment only dominate the North American companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. And the good news is that these technologies will be tested on Spanish rockets. PLD Space now has a huge challenge ahead: to prove that not only are they capable of launching rockets, but they can also recover them. Whether they succeed or not, they will undoubtedly make history. From here we wish you all the luck of the world. I bear witness that they deserve it.
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