Characterization of TEPREL-B Thrust Vector Control (TVC) during engine´s flight qualification phase. This testing has been performed to provide actuation, command and dynamic response for component validation and to be use by our Avionics and GNC team d Guidance, Navigation and Control team, supporting further electronics and "hardware in the loop" (HIL) tests, as well as final qualification process.

About the company:
PLD Space, founded in 2011, and based in Elche, is a Spanish company developing reusable rockets. Currently, PLD Space is working on two launchers, the suborbital MIURA 1 and the orbital MIURA 5.

www.pldspace.com

Today we push the limits of Microsoft Flight Simulator's scenery and lighting yet again, with a complete orbit of planet Earth from space—at the sim's maximum altitude of 52 miles, or 275,000 feet. The flight begins and ends at Kennedy Space Center in Florida—though with an accidental diversion a bit too far south toward the end due to a navigation error after passing Hawaii.

Technically, this is a simulation within a simulation because I never actually take control of the aircraft until right before landing at Kennedy Space Center. Instead I use the quick-positioning "slew mode" for almost the entire flight, blasting off from Launch Pad 39B, reaching 275,000 feet, and then pushing east at the maximum slew velocity of approximately 7,500 knots, or 8,600 mph. The final video is sped up significantly for obvious reasons, but there's a 1-minute sequence over Miami that simulates a conventional (if low) orbital velocity of 18,000 mph. The total flight took three hours in the simulator. To do that, I used gaffer…