A SpaceX competitor will appear in Europe to deliver cargo to the ISS

The European company The Exploration Company may in the future become a competitor to the American SpaceX in the field of delivering cargo into outer space. To do this, it is developing a reusable spacecraft Nyx, which will be able to launch into orbit and return up to 3 tons of cargo to Earth. The company raised $160 million to continue development, with the bulk of the funding coming from private investors.

Image source: The Exploration Company

The Exploration Company was founded by aerospace engineer Helene Huby in 2021. The first flight of the Nyx spacecraft to the International Space Station and back is planned for 2028. “We are the first [space] company in the world that is primarily funded by private investors,” Hubie said during a recent call with reporters. This differs from the approach to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, where she said funding came largely from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The most recent funding round came from Balderton Capital and Plural. In total, the startup managed to raise $208 million. The Exploration Company’s investors also include Bessemer Venture Partners, NGP Capital and two European sovereign funds: French Tech Souveraineté and Deep Tech & Climate Fonds. “Over the past three years, we have been able to fulfill our promises. We met our cash flow targets every quarter. Investors were reassured that we were capable of delivering on time,” Hubie said.

The startup drew the attention of the European Space Agency (ESA), which recognized the need to develop in the region the sphere related to the delivery of satellites and other cargo into space. At the beginning of the year, the company received a contract worth €25 million to develop technology for returning cargo to Earth. The contract expires in 2026, but it can be extended. ESA’s goal is to send at least one spacecraft to the ISS in 2028.

«I have a lot of respect for what SpaceX has accomplished. We try to learn as much experience as possible from them; we are inspired by their success. But we also believe that the world needs competition, and we want to create an alternative step by step. We are well aware that we started later, there are fewer of us and we have fewer resources, but we have to try,” Hubie said.