Spanish rocket company PLD Space signs deal with France's Arianespace

[June 15, 2023]  MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish startup PLD Space has signed a memorandum of understanding with France's Arianespace to develop joint services to launch small satellites into orbit, the Spanish company said on Wednesday. 

A logo of Arianespace is seen at the company's booth, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

The agreement will allow PLD Space to offer its customisable services to Arianespace customers, it said in a statement.

PLD Space hopes to start commercial activity in 2025 and plans to make a first suborbital test in the next days or weeks in southern Spain, after calling off a launch at the end of May due to high altitude winds.

It plans to gradually increase its capacity to 10 to 12 launches per year by the end of this decade.

Plans to deploy thousands of internet-beaming satellites in the next few years have spawned rocket companies targeting what some analysts expect will be a $1 trillion market by 2030.

Europe's efforts to develop capabilities to send small satellites into space are in focus after a failed orbital rocket launch by Virgin Orbit from Britain in January.

"Collaboration with strategic partners such as Arianespace is further proof of our commitment to increase Europe's commercial space access capability at a time when it is most needed," Ezequiel Sanchez, PLD executive president, said in the statement.

Arianespace, which launches satellites from French Guiana, is majority owned by ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran.

(Reporting by Emma PinedoEditing by Inti Landauro, Mark Potter and Richard Chang)

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