The Exploration Company (TEC) announced Monday that it has raised $160 million to advance development of its capsule designed to hold astronauts and cargo to space stations.
Venture capital firms Balderton Capital and Plural were the lead investors within the round, which also included French government-backed investment vehicle French Tech Souveraineté and German government-backed fund DeepTech & Climate Fonds.
TEC's core product is Nyx, a capsule that will be launched into space by rockets and carries passengers and cargo. Nyx is reusable. Once it has dropped its payload, it may re-enter Earth's atmosphere and be used for the subsequent mission.
“It's a big market, and it's growing at just over 10% a year because more and more nations want to fly their astronauts and more and more nations want to go to the moon,” Hélène Huby, founder and CEO of TEC, said in an announcement Interview with CNBC Interview.
“So there is an increased demand for moving people to stations and moving freight to stations,” she said.
There are only a few players on this a part of the market. One of the most important is SpaceX with a capsule called Dragon. There are also competitors from China and Russia.
“We said, 'Okay, let's construct this capability in Europe in order that Europe can have its own capsule and the world also needs another solution.' [We] “We can’t just bet on SpaceX,” Huby said.
TEC is currently developing the second version of Nyx, which is scheduled to launch next yr, followed by a final version in 2028. This model is partially funded by the European Space Agency.
Huby said the corporate has signed $800 million in contracts to make use of its capsule. These include mission contracts with firms reminiscent of Starlab, which is designing a brand new space station, and Axiom Space.
There is increasing activity in space between countries reminiscent of China, the USA and India. One of probably the most ambitious projects is the NASA-led Gateway, which can be the primary space station to orbit the moon.
“If there are more people, you also need more freight. So this is happening around the Earth and around the moon,” Huby said.
Huby sees TEC as a key player in developing the technology needed to return cargo to Earth after it has been in space.
“We also believe that our vehicle will play an important role here,” said Huby.
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