The Franco-German space startup The Exploration Company (TEC), which develops spacecraft for various uses such as cargo transportation, has raised 150 million euros in a Series B funding round. According to the company, this is the largest financing round of its kind in the European space industry.

The main investors in the deal were the London-based venture capital firms Balderton and Plural. Also involved for the first time were US investors Bessemer Venture Partners and NGP Capital, the French tech fund French Tech Souveraineté (partly financed by government funds), the DeepTech & Climate Fund (DTCF) of the German government, and Bayern Kapital, the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria. Existing investors such as EQT Ventures from Sweden, Red River West and Omnes from France, and Cherry Ventures from Berlin also invested again.

The Exploration Company was founded in 2021 by former Airbus manager Hélène Huby. The company is based in Munich and Bordeaux, and is considered a European pioneer in building privately funded spacecraft. It draws inspiration from the startup SpaceX founded by Elon Musk, which, in addition to launch vehicles and a satellite network, also offers space transport with its reusable capsule „Dragon“.

According to a report by the Financial Times, SpaceX is currently close to transactions increasing its valuation to over 250 billion dollars, up from 210 billion dollars in June. Apart from the Chinese internet company ByteDance, there is currently no startup with such a high valuation.

The Exploration Company plans to launch its medium-sized spacecraft „Mission Possible“ with a payload of 300 kilograms next year. The first flight of the reusable „Nyx Earth“ model is scheduled for 2028. According to the startup, it will be able to transport 4,000 kg to orbit and return 3,000 kg to earth. Long-term plans for the Nyx series also include transport to the Moon, and human space travel.

TEC has now raised a total of 216 million euros. The fresh funds will go into the further development and testing of Nyx and the expansion of its 200-strong workforce. Plural partner Khaled Helioui sees great potential, saying that "the company operates in a huge market where the demand for transport solutions in space drastically exceeds supply.“

Budgets have risen sharply in recent years: according to the non-profit organisation Space Foundation, global government space programme expenditures in 2023 amounted to 125 billion dollars, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. The rise is also due to the fact that space is becoming increasingly important not only economically but also militarily.

By comparison, global space venture capital investments in 2023 amounted to 6.2 billion dollars, according to data service provider Crunchbase. After two years of decline due to economic uncertainty and high interest rates, the volume is expected to increase again this year, with the total reaching 5.9 billion dollars by the end of August.

As a private company, The Exploration Company already has some successes to point to. „Last year, we achieved important operational and financial milestones and signed significant contracts with both space agencies and leading commercial clients“, says TEC CEO Huby. In May, TEC, alongside French aerospace company Thales Alenia, won a European Space Agency (ESA) tender for the construction of a supply capsule for the International Space Station (ISS). In the first phase of the tender, both companies received 25 million euros each to develop a model, with one ultimately being selected.

In addition, TEC has recently signed preliminary contracts with US space companies Vast Space, Axiom Space, and Starlab (a joint venture between Voyager Space, Airbus, and Mitsubishi). These contracts include various cargo missions to future space stations planned by the three companies. The Exploration Company aims to offer its services at a significantly lower cost than its competitors. According to media reports, a transport with Nyx is expected to cost around 150 million dollars, which is slightly less than SpaceX's prices.

Alongside TEC, the European Space Agency has also been working on a reusable spacecraft called „Space Rider“ for several years. Thales Alenia Space and the Italian aerospace and defence company Avio are involved in its development.