Primary, secondary, and vocational schools have a unique opportunity to take their innovation projects beyond the classroom by participating in the first launches of the MIURA 5 rocket. The SPARK Program, developed by the Spanish company PLD Space, offers students, researchers and teachers the opportunity to send their experiments into space free of charge on the first two flights of this space launcher, scheduled for the last quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
The program is backed by the institutional support of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Generalitat Valenciana, as well as the backing of the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OEI).
PLD Space is committed to awakening young people's interest in science, technology, and space by promoting inspiring initiatives. In this sense, primary, secondary, and vocational schools are one of the target audiences of the SPARK Program. The company aims to encourage students to develop scientific and technological projects capable of embarking on MIURA 5 to test in space.
Teams from the selected schools will have the opportunity to work alongside commercial satellite platform providers in a working session, once the selection process is completed. Submission of applications for schools will be simplified, requiring only one proposal per institution.
“At PLD Space we have always been concerned about promoting the interest of society in the space industry, so the first test flights of MIURA 5 are the perfect opportunity for students, researchers, institutions and companies to test their innovations in the challenging environment of space,” says Raúl Verdú, Head of Business Development and co-founder at PLD Space.
SPARK Program Requirements
The combined mass of all the small satellites selected through this call for submissions is 450 kg per flight, which will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometres.
Among the main selection criteria is the country of origin, with priority given to Spanish entities, followed by EU Member States, NATO Member States, and major non-NATO allied states. Additionally, PLD Space will prioritize proposals from universities, research centres, and commercial entities that are willing to integrate experiments by teams of primary, secondary, and vocational training students.
Other conditions to be considered include payload mass requirements, orbit flexibility, compliance with technical standards, launch window, schedule flexibility, satellite development status, operational risks, and mission attractiveness.
The application deadline for schools, institutes and vocational training centers is November 15. The final selection of candidates will be announced on November 30; and on December 10, the virtual session will be held where they will be matched with the selected commercial entities in the SPARK Program.
Cost coverage and logistical support
Under the SPARK Program, PLD Space undertakes to cover the costs related to mission management, accommodation on the MIURA 5 launcher, fuel handling, transport to the launch base, storage and handling costs, as appropriate, as well as any other operational costs related to the provision of the standard launch service. For their part, applicants will be responsible for the costs of meeting the technical requirements and any additional tests for the safety of the satellite.
Visit SPARK Program here: www.spark-program.pldspace.com
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