Spanish space transportation company PLD Space has announced a €35 million investment to develop and deploy its launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, as it prepares for the first orbital flight of its MIURA 5 rocket. The project covers the 2025–2026 period and places the company deeper inside Europe’s most important launch infrastructure. For Europe’s commercial space sector, the move signals a further shift from rocket development toward operational launch capability.
Investment and Local Economic Impact
The company says the investment makes it the first private operator to commit capital expenditure at this scale to the ELM-Diamant area of the Guiana Space Centre. Of the total amount, €22 million will be spent within the French industrial ecosystem, including €13 million directed to more than 20 companies based in French Guiana. PLD Space expects the project to generate about €21 million in local value added while supporting 250 to 275 indirect and induced jobs during construction and creating 35 direct roles tied to future launch operations.
Building on the CNES Partnership
The investment follows PLD Space’s agreement with France’s space agency, CNES, to develop a dedicated launch complex at the historic European spaceport. That partnership gives the Spanish company a route to operate from Kourou while supporting broader efforts to diversify the launch base beyond its traditional institutional users. CNES has described the project as part of a wider transition in which new European microlauncher companies are being integrated into the Guiana Space Centre.
MIURA 5 and Launch Readiness
The launch complex is being built for MIURA 5, PLD Space’s two-stage orbital rocket designed to serve the small satellite market. Civil works at the site are now in their final phase, with completion expected by summer 2026, while launch infrastructure integrated in Spain is beginning to move toward Kourou. The company says it remains on track to conduct the first MIURA 5 launch from the Guiana Space Centre in 2026, a milestone that would move the vehicle from development into flight demonstration.
Strategic Autonomy and Commercial Demand
The project is being framed around Europe’s need for autonomous, reliable and competitive access to orbit. By launching European institutional and commercial payloads from European territory on a European vehicle, PLD Space aims to support strategic sovereignty while offering customers an additional launch option. The announcement comes as Europe continues to rebuild confidence in its launch sector after years of delays, capacity gaps and growing dependence on non-European providers for some missions.
Company Momentum
PLD Space’s Kourou investment also comes after a period of accelerated financing and industrial expansion. In recent months, the company has closed major funding rounds and secured a €30 million European Investment Bank loan intended to support the final development phase of MIURA 5. Founded in Elche in 2011 by Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú, PLD Space now operates facilities across Spain, French Guiana and Oman, with its MIURA launcher family forming the core of its commercial space transportation strategy.
The €35 million commitment strengthens PLD Space’s position as one of Europe’s most visible private launch challengers and gives the company a physical foothold at the continent’s key spaceport. Its success will depend not only on completing the Kourou complex, but also on proving MIURA 5 can reach orbit and support repeatable launch operations. If the 2026 flight campaign proceeds as planned, the project could become an important test of whether Europe’s emerging commercial launch industry can deliver sovereign access to space at scale.