The European Investment Bank has signed a €30 million venture debt loan with Spanish space transport company PLD Space to support the final development of its MIURA 5 rocket for launching small satellites into orbit.
PLD Space is headquartered in Elche, Spain, and the funding will also be used to scale the company’s industrial and launch capabilities as it moves towards commercial operations, according to the European Investment Bank's announcement on Tuesday.
The deal is the EIB’s first direct investment in small satellite launchers, it added.
The rocket is intended for the “small lift” segment — vehicles designed to carry relatively small payloads to space — and is aimed at launching small satellites without using medium- or heavy-lift rockets.
MIURA 5 is on track for its first test flight in 2026 and is expected to be capable of carrying out up to 30 missions a year from multiple spaceports, including the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, also known as the European spaceport.
InvestEU backing and wider funding round
The loan is backed by InvestEU, an EU programme intended to mobilise public and private investment, the European Investment Bank said.
The €30 million financing brings PLD Space’s total funding secured so far in 2026 to €210 million, following a €180 million Series C fundraising round closed in March, the company’s executive president, Ezequiel Sánchez, said.
