PLD Space, an international company dedicated to space transport, has announced an investment of 35 million euros for the design, construction, and commissioning of its Launch Complex at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), located in Kourou (French Guiana), during the 2025-2026 period.
With this capital injection, the Elche (Alicante)-based firm consolidates itself as the "first" private operator to allocate such a significant amount to the ELM-Diamant area, "contributing to the diversification and strengthening of the historic European spaceport," as the company stated in a press release.
Of the total planned, 22 million euros will be executed within the French industrial framework. Of this figure, 13 million euros are directly allocated to more than 20 companies based in French Guiana, including a significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Economic Impact and Employment in French Guiana
"This approach reinforces PLD Space's commitment to integrating its industrial activity into the local territory and strengthening the regional space ecosystem beyond established players," the company explained.
Using the official INSEE multiplier methodology for the space sector in French Guiana as a reference, it is estimated that this investment will generate around 21 million euros in local added value. Furthermore, it will support between 250 and 275 indirect and induced jobs during the construction phase, in addition to the estimated creation of 35 direct jobs linked to future periodic launch campaigns.
The deployment of PLD Space's launch infrastructure at the CSG will enable European institutional and commercial payloads to take off from European territory aboard a European launcher, "reinforcing Europe's strategic autonomy and its sovereign access to space," they emphasized.
"This investment represents a significant milestone for PLD Space and for the emerging commercial launch ecosystem in Europe. Developing our own launch infrastructure at the Guiana Space Centre reinforces Europe's autonomous access to space, while contributing to the industrial diversification of the CSG. It also reflects our long-term commitment to building scalable, competitive, and sovereign launch capabilities from Europe," stated Ezequiel Sánchez, CEO of PLD Space.
Advances of MIURA 5 and reinforcement of European capabilities
The civil works for the MIURA 5 orbital launch complex are already in their final phase, with a completion date set for the summer of 2026.
In parallel, the integration of the launch infrastructure in Spain is progressing satisfactorily, and the shipment of the various components to Kourou has already begun. This process will allow for a fully operational launch complex for PLD Space's MIURA 5 vehicle, developed in cooperation with the CNES.
The company maintains its roadmap unchanged to carry out the first launch of MIURA 5 from the Guiana Space Centre in 2026, which will represent a "key milestone" for the nascent European commercial launcher ecosystem. This step will reinforce Europe's strategic autonomy in access to space, in line with the priorities set by France and the European Space Agency to expand and diversify the industrial base of the Guiana Space Centre.