Case Study: PLD Space achieves rapid 30‑minute design optimization of reusable launchers with MathWorks' MATLAB & Simulink

PLD Space Optimizes Reusable Launcher Design

PLD Space, a Spanish company founded in 2011 that develops reusable launch vehicles (Miura 1 and Miura 5), faced the challenge of rapidly optimizing complex launcher designs with hundreds of interacting parameters while cutting development costs and schedule risk. To address this, PLD Space worked with MathWorks using MATLAB, Simulink, and Simscape to build detailed virtual models of tank and system behavior and to test control algorithms and physical interactions in simulation.

MathWorks’ tools enabled PLD Space to create a faithful digital twin, run virtual experiments, and optimize more than 60 design parameters, reaching an optimal design solution in about 30 minutes and reducing the need for costly physical iterations. By using MathWorks products to verify results against testbench data, PLD Space shortened decision cycles and achieved measurable cost and time savings.

PLD Space

Germán Torres

PLD Space