Raul Verdú, co-founder of PLD Space in Elche, Spain, tells the story of how two amateur rocket enthusiasts started from scratch in a university cafeteria and spent 15 years building the technology, team, and credibility to develop their Miura 5 rocket. Verdú calls on European governments and agencies to back their own launchers with real contracts. With ambitions to reach 30 launches per year and increase payload capacity from half a tonne to 13 tonnes, Verdú sees PLD Space as the foundation of a new European industry that needs to rediscover the value of skilled technical workers, not just engineers and academics.
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