#englishnews #Spain'sfirstrocket <br /><br />News Article :-<br />A company launched Spain's first private rocket on Saturday, conducting Europe's first fully private rocket launch and offering hope for the continent's spluttering space aspirations.<br /><br />Spanish firm PLD Space — which launched its small Miura-1 rocket at 02:19 am (0019 GMT) from a military base in the southern region of Andalusia — stated the lift off was "successful" and that it had achieved all its "technical objectives."<br /><br />Third time lucky<br /><br />The Miura-1 is named after a breed of fighting bull and is as tall as a three-storey building. The company's blast off test in Huelva came after two previous attempts were aborted.<br />The rocket rose to 46 kilometers (29 miles) above the Gulf of Cadiz before landing in the Atlantic Ocean after five minutes of flight.<br /><br />Shortly after the launch, a delighted Raul Torres, chief executive of PLD Space, all rocket systems worked "perfectly," and the company was planning to triple its workforce.<br /><br />"This is just the beginning," he said.<br /><br />Europe's space race<br /><br />Europe's ability to send small satellites into space is under scrutiny after a failed orbital rocket launch by Virgin Orbit from Britain in January. That scheme involved releasing the launcher from a converted Boeing 747.<br /><br />But competitors are currently lining up to join the race to blast off small payloads include firms in Scotland, Sweden and Germany.<br /><br />Saturday's mission on the Miura-1 was the first of two planned suborbital missions. However, analysts say the most critical attempt will be the development of orbital services on the larger Miura-5. This test is slated for 2025.
