The Exploration Company (TEC) disclosed on Monday that it has secured $160 million in funding to accelerate the development of its capsule, which is intended to transport astronauts and cargo to space stations.
The funding round was led by venture capital firms Balderton Capital and Plural, with additional participation from French government-backed French Tech Souveraineté and Germany's DeepTech & Climate Fonds, reports cnbc.
TEC's core product is Nyx, a capsule that can be launched into space with passengers and cargo. After dropping off its load, Nyx can return to Earth and be reused for future missions.
“It’s a big market, and it’s growing about a bit more than 10% per year because more nations want to fly their astronauts and more nations want to go to the moon,” Hélène Huby, founder and CEO of TEC, told CNBC in an interview.
“So there is an increased demand for sending people to stations, sending cargo to stations,” she said.
This part of the market has very few players. Some of the biggest are SpaceX which has a capsule called Dragon. There are also rivals from China and Russia.
“We said, ’okay, let’s build this capacity in Europe so that Europe can have its own capsule and also the world needs an alternative solution. [We] cannot only bet on SpaceX,” Huby said.
TEC is currently developing the second version of Nyx which it expects to launch next year, followed by a final version in 2028. This model will be partly financed by the European Space Agency.
Huby said the company has signed $800 million in contracts to use its capsule. These include mission contracts with companies including Starlab, which is designing a new space station, and Axiom Space.
There is increasing activity in space among nations including China, the U.S. and India. One of the most ambitious projects is the NASA-led Gateway, which will be the first space station to orbit the moon.
“If you have more people, you also have a need for more cargo. So this is what is happening around the Earth and around the moon,” Huby said.
Huby believes TEC will play a crucial role in advancing the technology required to bring cargo back to Earth after it has been in space.
“This is also where we where we believe our vehicle is going to play an important role,” Huby said.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
