PLD Space is committing €35 million to build its launch complex at Europe’s only operational spaceport, becoming the first private operator to deploy capital at this scale at the ELM-Diamant site in French Guiana.
The investment brings PLD Space’s total funding to over €350 million and keeps MIURA 5, its small satellite orbital launcher, on track for a first test flight in late 2026.
Europe’s satellite launch vehicle market, worth €469 million in 2025, is projected to more than double to €1.09 billion by 2030 – a market PLD Space is betting it can capture before its better-funded German rivals reach orbit.
PLD Space commits €35 million to French Guiana launchpad as MIURA 5 edges toward first orbital flight
A biologist and an industrial engineer from Elche, Spain, are building Europe’s answer to SpaceX and they just planted a flag at the continent’s most strategic piece of launch real estate.
