The Exploration Company (TEC) revealed on Monday that it has raised $160 million to support the construction of its space station cargo and astronaut transport vehicle.
TakeAway Points:
- The Exploration Company (TEC) said that it had raised $160 million to support the development of its space station-capable capsule.
- The deal, which also included government-backed investment organisations from France and Germany, was led by venture capital companies Plural and Balderton Capital.
- Nyx, a reusable capsule that can carry people and goods into space and be launched from rockets, is the company’s main offering.
- TEC is currently developing the second version of Nyx, which it expects to launch next year.
Reusable spacecraft
On Monday, The Exploration Company (TEC) announced that it had raised $160 million to fund the development of its astronaut and cargo delivery vehicle for the space station.
Venture capital firms Balderton Capital and Plural were the lead investors in the round, which also included French government-backed investment vehicle French Tech Souveraineté and German government-backed fund DeepTech & Climate Fonds.
TEC’s core product is Nyx, a capsule that can be launched from rockets into space carrying passengers and cargo. Nyx is reusable so once it has dropped its payload, it can re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and be used for the next mission.
“It’s a big market, and it’s growing about a bit more than 10% per year because more nations want to fly their astronauts and more nations want to go to the moon,” Hélène Huby, founder and CEO of TEC, said in an interview.
“So there is an increased demand for sending people to stations, sending cargo to stations,” she said.
This part of the market has very few players. Some of the biggest are SpaceX, which has a capsule called Dragon. There are also rivals from China and Russia.
“We said, ’Okay, let’s build this capacity in Europe so that Europe can have its own capsule and also the world needs an alternative solution. [We] cannot only bet on SpaceX,” Huby said.
Nyx second version
TEC is currently developing the second version of Nyx, which it expects to launch next year, followed by a final version in 2028. This model will be partly financed by the European Space Agency.
Huby said the company has signed $800 million in contracts to use its capsule. These include mission contracts with companies including Starlab, which is designing a new space station, and Axiom Space.
There is increasing activity in space among nations, including China, the U.S. and India. One of the most ambitious projects is the NASA-led Gateway, which will be the first space station to orbit the moon.
“If you have more people, you also have a need for more cargo. So this is what is happening around the Earth and around the moon,” Huby said.
Huby sees TEC as a key player when it comes to developing the technology that is needed to return cargo to Earth once it has been in space.
“This is also where we believe our vehicle is going to play an important role,” Huby said.
