Rocket project has somewhere to land

Payload Aerospace, unwelcome in Salinas, has been found a home in Tibi. The company tests prototypes of a motor for launching satellites into space and it is the first of its type to be developed in Spain.

Testing would not have endangered humans, wildlife or the environment but plans for trials on land adjoining the small inland town were met with hostility from residents and Opposition parties at the Salinas town hall.

The two young owners of Payload Aerospace, Raul Torres and Raul Verdu, graduates of Elche’s Miguel Hernandez University, decided to look elsewhere.

The Generalitat has now offered them a 24,412-square metre site at El Maigmo in Tibi, one four industrial estates developed and marketed by the regional government.

The €1 million project has the backing of Miguel Hernandez University, the ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the Caixa bank, the Valencian Institute of Finance and private investors.