Lleida is set to host a new aerospace project after a consortium secured €11.6 million in EU funding to develop and test an aerospike space engine in Alguaire. The project is the first major aerospace technology investment at Alguaire airport.
The MERLIn consortium, short for Efficient and Reusable Engine for International Launchers, includes Barcelona-based start-up Pangea Propulsion, ITP Aero, Sener and Aenium Engineering. Pangea Propulsion is responsible for engine design and component integration.
Work is already under way at Pangea Propulsion's facilities at Alguaire airport, where the company is carrying out assembly and bench tests. It expects to test the new engine within two years. Pangea, which says it already employs 100 staff and collaborators, is also expanding its test facilities in the Segrià air complex and plans to open a new industrial unit for engine assembly and manufacturing soon.
The aerospike engine is Pangea's third prototype, after Demo P1 in 2021 and Arcos in 2023. The company says the system offers 15% higher efficiency and 30% more payload capacity than existing engines, and it runs on liquid methane and oxygen. Pangea says its engineers are the first globally to develop a reusable engine concept theorised by NASA 60 years ago.
Funding for the project comes from several sources. The €11.6 million from the Spanish Space Technology Plan, funded by Next Generation EU funds, accounts for more than 10% of the programme. The Catalan government has added another €2 million through Avança, the investment arm of the Ministry of Business. Pangea is completing the funding with a €23 million investment round.
Pangea Propulsion, founded in Barcelona in 2018, leads the design and assembly of the third aerospike engine prototype. The second prototype, Arcos, won the Game Changing Innovation for European Launchers award this year. For more Catalonia-wide business and technology coverage, see our news tag.