The archive · Space, Robots, Defence · Strategic decision · 2021–2026
The Exploration Company bets Europe pays for a SpaceX rival; €150M Series B, $2B talks
Munich startup building Nyx, Europe's reusable cargo capsule; Europe's largest space-tech Series B, then $300M raise talks at a $2B+ valuation.
The Exploration Company
What the business is
Builds and operates Nyx, a modular, reusable orbital cargo capsule — a European counterpart to SpaceX's Dragon — designed to resupply space stations and return cargo to Earth.
Starting capital：Total raised near €216M as of the November 2024 Series B, led by Balderton Capital and Plural with Bessemer, Bayern Kapital, NGP Capital, French Tech Souveraineté and Germany's DTCF.
How it started
Hélène Huby, who spent seven years at Airbus Defence & Space working on Orion and ATV, founded The Exploration Company in 2021 in Munich to give Europe its own reusable capsule. Bessemer, Balderton and Plural backed the thesis that European governments would prioritize locally built space logistics.
What happened
In July 2024, the Bikini reentry demonstrator flew on Ariane 6's maiden flight, but an upper-stage anomaly stranded it and prevented the reentry test. In November 2024 TEC closed a €150M Series B — Europe's largest space-tech round — with French and German sovereign funds co-investing for the first time. In June 2025, Mission Possible launched on a SpaceX rideshare, reached orbit and survived reentry before losing contact minutes before splashdown, a result the company called a partial success. It holds a ~$770M backlog with Axiom Space, Vast, Starlab and ESA, and was the first European company to sign a NASA Space Act Agreement.
How it ended up
Still scaling: as of July 2026 TEC is negotiating a raise of at least $300M at a $2B+ valuation per the FT, with EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund reported near a commitment, to fund Nyx's first full-size flight and ESA cargo missions.
Background
The Exploration Company (TEC) is a Munich-based space startup building Nyx, a modular, reusable orbital capsule positioned as Europe's answer to SpaceX's Dragon. Nyx is designed to carry cargo — and eventually crew — to the International Space Station and the commercial stations slated to replace it, returning payloads safely to Earth.
Founder Hélène Huby, a former Airbus Defence & Space leader who worked on the Orion and ATV programs, started TEC in 2021 to close a gap: Europe retired its ATV cargo ship in 2015 and since then has had no independent way to return cargo from orbit. TEC's bet was that European governments and commercial station operators would pay for a launcher-agnostic European capsule.
The bet has held so far. After the Bikini demonstrator was stranded on Ariane 6's maiden flight in July 2024, TEC closed Europe's largest space-tech Series B — €150M led by Balderton and Plural in November 2024 — and flew Mission Possible on a SpaceX rideshare in June 2025, reaching orbit and surviving reentry before losing contact near splashdown. By July 2026, FT reported TEC in talks to raise at least $300M at a $2B+ valuation, backed by a ~$770M contract backlog from Axiom Space, Vast, Starlab and ESA.
What has to be true
- Europe's ATV was retired with no reusable replacement, so sovereign demand for cargo return is real, budgeted and politically urgent.
- A launcher-agnostic, station-agnostic design lets Nyx fly on Ariane 6, Falcon 9 or anything else, removing dependence on one rocket program.
- Being the first European company with a NASA Space Act Agreement and ESA's top-ranked capsule gave TEC official demand before revenue.
- The Bikini and Mission Possible flights, though not fully successful, de-risked reentry enough for investors to keep raising the valuation.
What can be applied
Sovereign demand can substitute for consumer demand: TEC turned Europe's lack of cargo return into a national-security case that funded it to a $2B valuation before recovering a capsule intact.
Aftermath
As of July 2026, TEC is in talks to raise at least $300M at a valuation above $2B, per FT reporting echoed by Bloomberg, with EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund reportedly nearing a commitment. The company carries a ~$770M backlog from Axiom Space, Vast, Starlab and ESA. The open question is Nyx Earth's first full-size flight, planned for 2027–28: TEC has yet to recover a capsule intact, so the next mission must prove the design end to end.
Sources
- Logistics for space travel: Our investment in The Exploration Company
- €150 Million for Space-Tech: DTCF Invests in The Exploration Company, Joining Europe's Largest Space Series B
- The Exploration Company Reportedly In Talks To Raise $300 Million At A $2 Billion Valuation
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card