The Exploration Company Secures $160 Million to Develop Europe’s First Reusable Space Capsule

In its Series B fundraising round, European space firm The Exploration Company has raised $160 million to further build Nyx, the continent’s first reusable spacecraft. The company, which was founded three years ago by aerospace engineers Pierre Vine, Sebastien Reichstat, and Hélène Huby, plans to launch Nyx’s first flight to and from the ISS in 2028. Three thousand kg of cargo will be able to be transported by the spaceship. Balderton Capital and Plural are leading the Series B round, which raises the company’s total funding to more than $208 million. NGP Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and two European sovereign funds—DeepTech & Climate Fonds and French Tech Souveraineté—were also involved. This investment will help Nyx continue to grow and fulfill its goal of offering a substitute for the two American businesses that already transfer cargo to the International Space Station. Huby underlined that the business’s financing strategy distinguishes it from rivals such as SpaceX, which mostly depends on NASA funding. “This is the first company in the world where private investors are the primary source of funding,” she stated. The European Space Agency (ESA), which gave The Exploration Company a €25 million study contract to create cargo return services, acknowledged the company’s advancements. By 2028, ESA hopes to have at least one European-built capsule providing ISS services, with more contracts anticipated in the future. The program is similar to NASA’s Commercial

Orbital Return Transportation Services program, which gave SpaceX and other companies multibillion-dollar contracts.