PLD Space is a Spanish deep tech scale-up that was founded in 2011 to design, develop, manufacture, and operate space rockets to deliver a payload into orbit. Today, with over 350 employees, validated technology, and a private rocket test range, PLD Space is a European leader in space technology. 

Or, as Mariano García Orgiles, PLD Space’s Investor Relations Lead, puts it much more humbly: “We’re a transportation company. Except point A is Earth, and point B is space.”

We recently had a chat with Mariano to learn more about the company’s rich history, ground-breaking achievements, and countless challenges they’ve encountered on their journey to where they are today. 

Building rockets and writing history

Based in the southeast of Spain, PLD Space boasts expansive facilities. Their main location in Elche, Alicante, where the rockets are designed and manufactured, spans 18,000 square meters. Further inland, in Teruel, lies their 150,000 square meter private test range – the largest in Europe. This commitment to rigorous in-house testing is a cornerstone of their approach. 

"We are crazy about testing. We want to test everything before we get to the launchpad.”

This private test range enables a full engineering cycle within a single day, from design and manufacturing in the morning to testing and data analysis in the afternoon.

In 2023, PLD Space made history by launching Miura 1, the first private rocket in Europe's history, from Spain. This single-stage, single-engine rocket served to demonstrate and validate their technology, paving the way for the development of the larger Miura 5.

Having won a Spanish government contract for 42 million euro, PLD Space has to deliver the Miura 5 – their first commercial rocket – by end of year, and it’s to be launched in 2026. Though they’re pre-revenue, the company is at a crucial turning point, as customers are lining up.

For these future launches, PLD Space has two locations already in agreement. They expect to continue making history and be the first private company to launch a rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, as well as have a signed agreement with a new spaceport in Oman. Mariano hints that there’s one more spaceport agreement in the works.
 

The people taking the company to the stars

The company's journey began with an inspirational story of two co-founders from Elche, both named Raúl. Raúl Torres, the CEO/acting CTO, leads the technical side, while Raúl Verdú, the CBDO, focuses on business development. 

In 2017, Ezequiel Sanchez – a local business heavyweight – joined as executive president, bringing extensive manufacturing and business experience. He has been instrumental in the company's growth, helping to more than double the team size since the Miura 1 launch and securing vital funding and permits.

Today, the team has surpassed 350 people. But, early on, talent used to be a problem, according to Mariano. 

“In this kind of business, you cannot be remote. You have to be there with the rockets.”

This proved to be problematic early on, before the company had made a name for itself – people weren’t particularly keen to relocate. But “after the successful demo launch in 2023, hiring became much easier,” says Mariano. 

The ascent of PLD Space: Overcoming challenges, building momentum

While "Rocket science" itself is a major technical hurdle, Mariano emphasizes that securing funding has seemed like an even greater one. 

"When I joined, one of the co-founders told me – it's difficult to build a rocket, but it's more difficult to fund a rocket."

Mariano stresses the need for "smart money" from investors who understand the long-term timelines characteristic of space tech, noting that funding in Europe is more scarce and fragmented compared to the US.

Regulation has also proved to be a challenge, explains Mariano. Or, rather the lack of it, which meant that they had to participate and dedicate energy to shaping it. 

“As you can imagine, before us, there was no regulation for private rocket test ranges in Spain.”

All the hard work, however, has paid off. PLD Space has achieved significant milestones, transitioning from an R&D company to a commercial entity with over €900 million in customer pipeline. 

While the successful launch of Miura 1 is the company’s most notable and visible achievement, Mariano also highlights the various aspects of business growth as major points of pride – from enlarging their manufacturing capabilities and growing the team to establishing themselves as an international company and gaining customer trust. 

EIC Scaling Club – a gateway to new clients

PLD Space has been deeply involved in various European Commission initiatives, including EIC accelerators and Cassini, and wants to continue to be a participant in the EC’s initiatives – hence their participation in the Scaling Club. 

For PLD Space, it’s a business decision, says Mariano – the European Commission is a crucial potential customer. 

"It's the European Commission that promotes launching contracts, not the European Space Agency. The latter is a stakeholder, but the EC holds the purse.” 

For Mariano and his team, the EIC Scaling Club provides a vital "foot in the door" within this complex ecosystem, enabling them to be part of key conversations and contribute to the development of the European space sector.

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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