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Zawya
03-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
PLD Space and D-Orbit sign launch agreement for equatorial missions
D-Orbit will launch various payloads aboard MIURA 5, including its flagship ION Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). The contract ensures continued access to flexible and efficient launch solutions tailored to the evolving needs of satellite operators worldwide. With this agreement, PLD Space has now fulfilled more than 80% of the slots in its manifest until 2027. Elche (Spain): PLD Space, an international space services company with vertical integrated engineering and manufacturing, has signed an agreement with D-Orbit, a global leader in space logistics and orbital transportation, to deploy satellites aboard MIURA 5 to equatorial orbit. With this, PLD Space has now fulfilled more than 80% of the slots in its manifest until 2027. With investment in space accelerating at an unprecedented rate -particularly in Southeast Asia and other geographies situated near the equator- PLD Space and D-Orbit are well positioned to capitalize on this growth. MIURA 5, launching from its strategic site at the CSG (Kourou, French Guiana), provides one of the few dedicated low-inclination launch opportunities available, offering customers direct access to equatorial orbits. This differentiates PLD Space from other major providers, whose standard offerings for many seeking access to space do not include this service. Currently, the niche is primarily served by one or two launch vehicles offering very low cadences, underscoring the importance of PLD Space's entry into this underserved market. Through this agreement, D-Orbit will fly payloads aboard MIURA 5, including its flagship ION Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). D-Orbit provides logistics services to the space sector, including in-orbit satellite transportation with individual deployment into specific orbital slots, as well as in-space testing of hosted payloads. The company also offers satellite operators in-orbit storage and advanced computing capabilities. As the market leader in in-space logistics, D-Orbit has successfully deployed satellites into precise orbits through 17 ION missions to date. The contract with PLD Space ensures continued access to flexible and efficient launch solutions tailored to the evolving needs of satellite operators worldwide. 'From our launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana, and Duqm, Oman, we offer one of the widest ranges of orbital inclinators providing our customers with a significant competitive advantage,' said Raúl Verdú, CBDO and Co-founder at PLD Space. 'The agreement with D-Orbit strengthens our position as a leader, especially in markets that require reliable equatorial access, a capability that remains extremely limited in today's industry.' 'Working with PLD Space will allow us to expand our launch offering to equatorial missions, an option that is becoming increasingly interesting for our customers, enabling us to better meet their evolving needs while building a promising collaboration with PLD Space,' commented Matteo Lorenzoni, VP Commercial Strategy of D-Orbit. PLD Space is currently ramping-up the serial production for MIURA 5 units using the flight proven technology coming from MIURA 1, with the aim of starting its test flight campaign by the end of 2025. Commercial flights of MIURA 5 will begin in 2026 with the objective of scaling up to 30 launches per year by 2030. About PLD Space PLD Space is an international space services company with its own engineering and manufacturing. It is dedicated to transporting satellites and people to space, vertically integrating the engineering, testing, manufacturing, and operations of its reusable and sustainable rockets. Headquartered in Elche (Spain) and founded in 2011 by Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú, PLD Space has established itself as a benchmark in the space launcher sector globally. Its MIURA family of launchers and its LINCE manned capsule position the company as a leader in European technological sovereignty in space transport, covering the entire range of space missions. With a team of more than 300 employees and more than 12,500 m² dedicated to advanced manufacturing, PLD Space manages facilities in Teruel, Kourou (French Guiana) and Duqm (Oman), allowing it to offer complete satellite launch services and other payloads to space. For more information: María Climent, Communications Manager at PLD Burson
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The Independent
30-03-2025
- General
- The Independent
At least one passenger dead as 11 carriages derailed in India train accident
At least one passenger has died and seven others were injured as 11 coaches of an express train derailed in the Indian state of Odisha on Sunday. The train was travelling from southern India 's Bengaluru city towards the city of Kamakhya, its destination, when it derailed mid-journey at 11.54am local time. The coaches came off the tracks near Cuttack, Odisha, where hundreds of passengers were stranded on the railway tracks as the authorities scrambled to arrange a substitute train. Odisha Fire Service director-general Sudhansu Sarangi confirmed seven passengers were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, officials have yet to confirm any fatality in the accident. An eyewitness on the scene told The Independent one person died and eight were rushed to a hospital while dozens were injured in the accident. Footage from the scene showed passengers climbing out of the derailed coaches of the train with their luggage as workers tried to look through the damaged section of the train. Enraged passengers who were left stranded for hours said there was no drinking water as they waited for help. East Coast Railway spokesperson Ashok Kumar Mishra said: "Arrangements are being made to help the affected passengers reach their destinations. Our priority is to restore the line at the earliest and accordingly, other trains will be diverted," he said. Three trains have been diverted so far because of the train derailment. This is the latest derailment on the country's vast and essential rail network, raising concerns over the safety of a network on which millions of people depend each day. The incident in Odisha comes almost two years after the state saw one of the deadliest accidents in modern Indian history, when a collision between three trains killed nearly 300 people with over 1,000 injuries. 'We do not know why train mishaps are frequently occurring in Odisha. We are hearing that some work was going on and it was not done properly for which the mishap occurred,' a passenger told OTV news. On 22 January this year at least 13 people were killed after passengers disembarked from a train following rumours if fire and were killed after being hit by another high speed train in in Maharashtra 's Jalgaon district. On 30 July last year, 18 coaches of the Mumbai-Howrah Mail derailed near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand after colliding with a goods train. At least two people died in the accident. According to a latest report by the Commission of Railway Safety, the number of railway accidents increased from 35 in 2021-22 to 48 in 2022-23, with serious accidents doubling in successive years.
