The Exploration Company - Company Profile, Milestones & Funding

01

Overview

It is building Nyx, a launcher-agnostic reusable cargo capsule meant to dock with the ISS and future commercial stations and return cargo to Earth, plus Storm, a full-flow staged-combustion methalox engine of up to 180 tonnes of thrust intended as the core of a future European heavy launcher. Dual headquarters sit in the Munich area and around Bordeaux (Le Haillan/Merignac), with sites in Turin, Houston, Luxembourg, and the UAE; the legal parent is The Exploration Company GmbH in Gauting. Two subscale demonstrators have already flown: Bikini on Ariane 6's maiden flight in July 2024 (the upper stage never deorbited, so the capsule stayed in orbit) and Mission Possible on SpaceX Transporter-14 in June 2025, which reached orbit and reentered but lost communications before splashdown. Nyx itself is in structural testing and ISS safety review. The company closed a $450 million Series C on September 8, 2026 - the largest Series C yet by a European space company - co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund, bringing total funding to about $680 million. Two days later at the International Space Summit in Paris, ESA awarded TEC a EUR 760 million ALADDIN Phase 2 service contract (EUR 310 million for an ISS cargo demonstration plus EUR 450 million in options for two more flights to the ISS or a future commercial station), and TEC booked Ariane 6 with Arianespace for the demo. ESA will cover 60% of the demonstration; TEC says it has secured the other 40% from private investors. The company reports more than 550 employees, 10 missions booked, and more than $2 billion in contracts and commitments with ESA plus pre-bookings from Axiom, Vast, and Starlab. A crewed Nyx is described as a mid-2030s follow-on. Series C talks in July 2026 had pointed at a valuation above $2 billion; the close itself did not disclose a post-money figure.

esa.intUpdated Sep 18, 2026

02

What's next3

All milestones

2026-2028
Storm subscale and power-pack tests
Series C funds a sequence of Storm tests: subscale thrust-chamber and preburner work in the coming months, then an oxygen-rich power-pack test and a workhorse engine test over the next several years. Watch DLR Lampoldshausen and P3.2 campaigns.
exploration.space
2028
ALADDIN Nyx ISS cargo demonstration on Ariane 6
Target2028 (docking NLT Q2 2029)
The first full-scale Nyx flight is ESA's ALADDIN cargo demonstration, booked on Ariane 6 from Kourou. TEC's Series C materials say that demonstration includes ISS docking and a return to Earth, targeted for 2028. European Spaceflight reports docking no later than Q2 2029, the last window before planned ISS retirement. EUR 310 million is firm; two extra flights worth EUR 450 million remain options.
exploration.space
late 2028
Storm prototype engine test-fire
arstechnica.com

03

Products4

04

Key metrics

Employees: 550+ (as of September 2026)
Est. annual revenue: Pre-flight on Nyx cargo; no public annual revenue. Company cites more than $2 billion in contracts and commitments, of which ESA's EUR 310 million ALADDIN demo is the largest disclosed firm service award and EUR 450 million is optional follow-on flights.
Employees: 550+
Total funding: ~$680 million; through Sep 2026 Series C
ESA ALADDIN contract: EUR 760 million; EUR 310 million firm demo + EUR 450 million options
Contracts and commitments: >$2 billion; company figure, mix of firm and pre-booked
Missions booked: 10
Nyx down-mass: Up to 3,000 kg returned to Earth
Nyx reuse: Up to 10 missions
Storm sea-level thrust: Up to 180 tonnes; full-flow staged combustion, LOX/biomethane

05

Operations & revenue

Operating status

Nyx in structural test and ISS certification; first cargo demo targeted 2028

As of September 2026 Nyx has completed subscale splashdown tests, a Mojave parachute drop test, structural-test-model pressure and ESTEC vibration campaigns, and Phase 1 ISS safety review. The first full-scale flight is the ESA ALADDIN ISS cargo demonstration on Ariane 6: company materials target 2028 and say that demonstration includes ISS docking and return; European Spaceflight reports docking no later than Q2 2029. Storm is in subscale preburner testing with DLR. Two earlier demonstrators have flown: Bikini (2024, no reentry) and Mission Possible (2025, partial success).

Revenue streams

ESA cargo transportation (ALADDIN / LCRS)
Phase 2 service contract signed September 10, 2026: EUR 310 million for a Nyx ISS demonstration plus EUR 450 million in options for two more cargo flights to the ISS or a future commercial station. ESA funds 60% of the demo.
Commercial space-station cargo
Pre-booking agreements with Axiom, Vast, and Starlab. TEC says 10 missions are booked in total. These are demand signals ahead of a flying capsule, not yet flown cargo.
Microgravity research flights
DLR signed in February 2025 as an anchor customer for Nyx-based microgravity research services.
Future propulsion and lunar cargo
Storm is being developed as a reusable high-thrust engine for a future European heavy launcher. Nyx Moon is a proposed cargo lander using in-house Breeze/Huracan methalox thrusters. Neither is a current revenue line.

06

Track record

How past announced dates turned out.

0/3announced dates hit on time

0 Hit
1 Slipped
2 Missed

Slipped
Mission Odyssey / first full-scale Nyx flight (original 2026 target)
Target 2026 · Resolved Nov 1, 2025
Early roadmaps targeted a full-scale Nyx Earth maiden flight (Mission Odyssey) in 2026. By late 2025 Huby said ESA funding would enable a full-scale demonstration by 2028, and 2026 company materials now point to 2028.
Original target Outcome
Missed
Mission Possible controlled reentry and recovery
Target June 2025 · Resolved Jun 24, 2025
The 2.5 m demonstrator reached orbit, reentered, and came out of blackout, then lost communications before splashdown. TEC called it a partial success and said it would re-fly the mission. Customer cargo, including memorial payloads, was not recovered.
Original target Outcome
Missed
Bikini ballistic reentry on Ariane 6 maiden flight
Target July 2024 · Resolved Jul 9, 2024
Bikini launched on Ariane 6's first flight but never reentered because the upper stage failed to deorbit, so the thermal-protection and ballistic-reentry objectives were not completed.
Original target Outcome

07

Timeline15

2026
1. Huby targets Nyx ISS docking as early as November 2028
  Helene Huby told Ars Technica on 9 September 2026 that Nyx is in NASA safety review for a cargo mission to the ISS as early as November 2028, and that she is pushing to test-fire a Storm prototype by late 2028. An earlier 2 September Arab News profile also said the schedule called for a first flight in November 2028, while warning that dates can slip. That is a tighter company target than the catalog's 2028 / docking NLT Q2 2029 window from European Spaceflight. ESA's ALADDIN award of 10 September still funds a EUR 310 million demo plus EUR 450 million of options; TEC also booked Ariane 6 with Arianespace. Arab News' 650-employee figure is not used; official Series C and careers pages still say 550+.
2. ESA ALADDIN contract and Ariane 6 booking
  On September 10 at the International Space Summit in Paris, ESA signs a EUR 760 million ALADDIN Phase 2 service contract with TEC: EUR 310 million for a Nyx ISS cargo demonstration and EUR 450 million in options for two more flights to the ISS or a future commercial station. ESA covers 60% of the demo; TEC says private investors cover 40%. The same day TEC books Ariane 6 with Arianespace for the first Nyx flight, expected no later than Q2 2029 for ISS docking. TEC says it has 10 missions booked and about $2 billion in total contracts and commitments with Axiom, Starlab, and Vast among the commercial pre-bookings.
3. $450 million Series C
  On September 8 TEC closes a $450 million Series C co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT, with Balderton, Plural, Cherry, and Red River West returning. Bessemer partner Alex Ferrara joins the board. Total funding reaches about $680 million. The money is earmarked for a Nyx ISS demonstration and Storm engine tests. No post-money valuation is disclosed at close.
4. European Astrotech acquired; Houston lab and TEC Federal
  On June 30 TEC acquires UK propulsion-and-fueling specialist European Astrotech at Westcott. On July 8 it opens a Rapid Innovation Lab in Houston near NASA Johnson, including a full-scale Nyx crew mockup, and launches TEC Federal as a US-controlled entity to bid on US government work.
5. Storm engine unveiled; Huracan hot-fire
  In May 2026 TEC completes a first test-fire campaign of the 15 kN methalox Huracan engine for future lunar landers. In June it publicly unveils Storm, a reusable full-flow staged-combustion LOX/biomethane engine of up to 180 tonnes of thrust, at ILA Berlin.
6. Nyx splashdown, vibration, and parachute drop tests
  In January 2026 TEC runs 20 splashdown tests of a 1:4 Nyx model in Rome. A structural test model completes pressure tests in March and 69 vibration tests at ESTEC by May. On May 19 a dedicated drop-test vehicle in the Mojave Desert validates drogue-to-main parachute handover from 2.8 km.
2025
1. Oberpfaffenhofen HQ, Bordeaux site, Thrustworks acquisition
  TEC opens a new German headquarters in Oberpfaffenhofen in October 2025, inaugurates a Le Haillan (Bordeaux) facility for propulsion, TPS, and mission control in November, and acquires German additive-manufacturing firm Thrustworks.
2. Nyx passes Phase 1 ISS safety review
  In August 2025 Nyx Earth clears Phase 1 of the International Space Station Safety Review, a gate on the path to docking with the ISS.

08

Funding

$654Mdisclosed across 3 rounds with a stated amount

Cumulative disclosed raise · dated rounds

RoundAmountInvestors

Seed
Nov 2021
EUR 5 million
Undisclosed early backers
Series A
Feb 2023
EUR 40.5 million (~$44 million)
EQT Ventures and Red River West (co-leads), Promus Ventures, VSquared, Cherry Ventures, Partech, Bayern Kapital
Series B
Nov 2024
$160 million (EUR 150 million)
Balderton Capital and Plural (leads), French Tech Souverainete, Germany DeepTech & Climate Fonds, existing backers
Series C
Sep 2026
$450 million (EUR 387 million)
Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT (co-leads); Balderton, Plural, Cherry, Red River West

Overview

What's next3

Storm subscale and power-pack tests

ALADDIN Nyx ISS cargo demonstration on Ariane 6

Storm prototype engine test-fire

Products4

Nyx

Storm

Nyx Moon

Oura