The queue to send objects into orbit is growing, but space infrastructure isn\u2019t keeping up with demand. As the realization sinks in that Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX can\u2019t be the sole answer, other companies are raising their hand \u2014 and money.<\/p>\n
These include The Exploration Company<\/a> (TEC), which operates out of Germany, France, Luxembourg, Spain, and Italy, and which has raised $450 million<\/a> in what it describes as \u201cthe largest-ever Series C by a European space company.\u201d But the race is global, with U.S.-based rival Stoke Space currently raising a $1 billion Series E round<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rivalry aside, these rounds show that investors on both sides of the Atlantic are willing to back companies seeking to build reusable spacecraft. That\u2019s a category pioneered by SpaceX, but that many players, both public and private, now believe it shouldn\u2019t solely control as space gains strategic importance<\/a>.<\/p>\n These sovereignty-related concerns create extra tailwinds for an EU-headquartered company like TEC. Led by H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Huby, a French national who spent two decades at Airbus and ArianeGroup, the company intends to use its funding to build the foundation for a reusable European heavy-lift launcher offering an affordable alternative to SpaceX.<\/p>\n SpaceX itself may have no other choice but to loosen its nascent monopoly<\/a> on low-earth-orbit launches to prioritize its own payloads; reports suggest that its Falcon rockets are already increasingly reserved for its Starlink satellites<\/a>, amid uncertainty as to what will happen when these get retired<\/a> in favor of Starship.<\/p>\n This creates demand that TEC won\u2019t be able to meet for years, even if it sticks to its self-admittedly ambitious timeline. According to Atomico<\/a>, \u201c10 Nyx missions are booked,\u201d with \u201cmore than $2 billion in contracts and commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of these commitments come from institutional partners, including the European Space Agency<\/a>, but also NASA. Its Series C was also transatlantic, with Atomico, and the EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund<\/a> co-leading the round alongside Bessemer Venture Partners, whose partner Alex Ferrara will join TEC\u2019s board of directors.\u00a0<\/p>\n This latest round also consolidates TEC\u2019s status as a company mostly funded by private investors<\/a>, and one that plans accordingly. In a press conference earlier today, Huby said that she\u2019d love to see Europe add human space flight to its roadmap, but wouldn\u2019t be able to convince VCs to spend $4 billion towards a crew capsule, \u201cthen wait 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n So, TEC\u2019s timeline is more pragmatic, but it is tight. Its most immediate focus is Nyx, a reusable capsule<\/a> akin to SpaceX\u2019s Dragon and capable of carrying cargo, then people. The company intends to get Nyx to dock with the soon-to-be-retired International Space Station and return safely to Earth by November 2028.<\/p>\n According to Huby, funding from the Series C will stretch to also fund Storm<\/a>, a rocket engine program paving the way for further developments, at least initially. \u201cWhere we need more money is to build a launch pad, and to build the rocket itself,\u201d she told journalists.<\/p>\n TEC wouldn\u2019t be the first European commercial space company to launch a rocket \u2014 German startup Isar Aerospace crossed that milestone<\/a> out of Norway last weekend. Huby praised the feat as \u201cgreat news for the whole ecosystem,\u201d but said that TEC intends to build a much bigger rocket than Isar\u2019s expandable Spectrum vehicle.<\/p>\n