{"id":90362,"date":"2026-10-01T21:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/pld-space-and-cnes-partner-to-expand-launch-infrastructure-at-guiana-space-centre\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T21:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:12:19","slug":"pld-space-and-cnes-partner-to-expand-launch-infrastructure-at-guiana-space-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/pld-space-and-cnes-partner-to-expand-launch-infrastructure-at-guiana-space-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"PLD Space and CNES Partner to Expand Launch Infrastructure at Guiana Space Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elche, Spain \u2014 On Thursday, October 1, 2026, Spanish launch service provider PLD Space signed a bilateral agreement with the French Space Agency, Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES), to advance commercial launch infrastructure at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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The partnership establishes a joint technical framework to assess the feasibility of adding a second launch pad at the ELM-Diamant complex to support flight operations for PLD Space\u2019s MIURA 5 and MIURA 9 orbital launch vehicles.<\/p>\n

The joint initiative aligns with European Space Agency (ESA) efforts under the European Launcher Challenge to diversify access to orbit by integrating commercial launch providers into Europe\u2019s primary spaceport<\/sup>. By expanding launch capacity at ELM-Diamant, CNES and PLD Space aim to increase mission throughput, lower spaceport operational bottlenecks, and establish a multi-user gateway capable of handling both European government payloads and commercial constellation deployments<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Institutional Context and Spaceport Modernization<\/h3>\n

The infrastructure agreement follows PLD Space\u2019s previous commit of capital to establish a dedicated operational presence in French Guiana<\/sup>. PLD Space expanded its launch site footprint through a \u20ac35 million investment at Guiana Space Centre, becoming the first commercial provider to secure a dedicated footprint at the historic ELM-Diamant site.<\/p>\n

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n|                PLD Space Launch Infrastructure at CSG                   |\n+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+\n|         Pad 1 (In Progress)        |          Pad 2 (Feasibility)       |\n|       Dedicated MIURA 5 Pad        |   Shared MIURA 5 & MIURA 9 Pad    |\n+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+\n|      Operational Target: Scaled Orbital Cadence from Kourou             |\n+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
The expansion also builds upon PLD Space\u2019s selection under the European Space Agency\u2019s European Launcher Challenge program, an institutional effort designed to foster competitive launch options across member states<\/sup>. The joint feasibility study with CNES ensures that ground segment logistics, propellant storage, cleanroom integration facilities, and range safety protocols scale alongside PLD Space\u2019s expanding rocket architecture<\/sup>.<\/p>\n
Vehicle Architecture and Orbital Capacity<\/h3>\n
The feasibility study evaluates ground infrastructure requirements for two distinct vehicle classes within PLD Space\u2019s launcher family<\/sup>.<\/p>\n
The MIURA 5 is a two-stage, partially reusable orbital rocket designed to transport up to 1,000 kilograms of payload into low Earth orbit<\/sup>. The vehicle utilizes liquid oxygen and kerosene propulsion, with a reusable first stage engineered for ocean recovery and refurbishment.<\/p>\n
The larger MIURA 9 concept represents a heavy-lift evolution intended to support higher payload masses and multi-satellite constellation deployments<\/sup>. Accommodating both vehicles at ELM-Diamant requires secondary launch stand configurations, updated umbilical towers, and expanded propellant loading systems capable of managing increased mass flows during launch operations<\/sup>.<\/p>\n
Space Leadership Perspective on European Autonomy<\/h3>\n
\u201cThis agreement with CNES reinforces PLD Space\u2019s long-term commitment to the Guiana Space Centre and to Europe\u2019s autonomous access to space,\u201d said Ezequiel S\u00e1nchez, Executive President of PLD Space<\/sup>. \u201cBy advancing the MIURA launch vehicle family together with the infrastructure and operations required to scale from French Guiana, PLD Space is contributing to the CSG\u2019s evolution as the world\u2019s leading spaceport for the next generation of launch services<\/sup>. This strategic advance reinforces a roadmap designed to provide Europe with real, competitive and resilient launch capacity<\/sup>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Infrastructure Timeline and Flight Schedule<\/h3>\n
Following initial site surveys and civil engineering assessments with CNES, PLD Space will finalize ground pad specifications while continuing preparations for the maiden orbital flight of MIURA 5<\/sup>. Civil construction and ground integration work at Kourou will proceed in parallel with engine testing at the company\u2019s Teruel facilities in Spain, supporting a long-term goal of scaling launch cadences from French Guiana as commercial operations mature<\/sup>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elche, Spain \u2014 On Thursday, October 1, 2026, Spanish launch service provider PLD Space signed a bilateral agreement with the French Space Agency, Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES), to advance commercial launch infrastructure at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The partnership establishes a joint technical framework to assess the feasibility of adding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}