On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, European commercial space company The Exploration Company (TEC) announced the completion of a $450 million (€387 million) Series C financing round.
Co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and the Scaleup Europe Fund (managed by EQT), the growth round marks the largest private capital raise for a European space tech venture to date, bringing the company’s total funding to approximately $680 million.
Growth Context and Contract Portfolio Expansion
The capital injection is structured to accelerate the industrialization and flight qualification of TEC’s reusable orbital vehicle, challenging non-European launch and cargo return providers like SpaceX. The company has amassed a commercial and institutional backlog exceeding $2 billion in cumulative mission pre-bookings across public space agencies and private space station developers.
The financing builds on European institutional momentum, including the European Space Agency selecting TEC to develop LEO cargo return services. To support attitude control and orbital maneuvering for its space station logistics platforms, TEC previously partnered with Agile Space Industries to supply DS250 bipropellant thrusters.
Nyx Capsule and Storm Propulsion Engine Parameters
Series C proceeds will fund dual hardware development pipelines engineered for orbital transportation, cargo return, and heavy-lift propulsion:
- Nyx Reusable Spacecraft: A modular capsule platform designed to deliver up to 4,000 kilograms of pressurized cargo to low Earth orbit and safely return payloads back to Earth. The vehicle architecture expands on flight technologies validated during early cryogenic engine and propulsion testing campaigns for the Nyx-Moon variant.
- Storm Reusable Engine Architecture: Accelerates full-scale development of the high-thrust Storm engine, a reusable full-flow staged combustion engine powered by liquid oxygen and biomethane designed to power future heavy-lift launch vehicles.
Executive Leadership Viewpoint
“This financing will allow us to execute with urgency: to bring Nyx to the International Space Station and safely back to Earth, while accelerating Storm, the high-thrust propulsion capability Europe needs for its future reusable heavy launcher,” stated Hélène Huby, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Exploration Company. “We are scaling from Europe with talent, customers and partners from around the world because the next generation of space transportation must be built to serve more nations, industries and people.”
Testing Schedule and Flight Manifest Timeline
Capital from the round will support full-scale workhorse engine firings for the Storm propulsion system through 2027. Concurrently, TEC is preparing the Nyx Earth platform for its inaugural orbital demonstration flight to dock with the International Space Station, currently scheduled for 2028.
