The Exploration Company

What they do

The Exploration Company is developing Nyx, a reusable space capsule designed to carry cargo to orbital stations and bring it back to Earth. The spacecraft combines in-house propulsion, avionics, flight software and docking systems with a low-density carbon heat shield for re-entry. Variants for lunar orbit and the lunar surface are planned, and the company is also developing Storm, a reusable high-thrust rocket engine intended for a future European launcher.

Why it matters

Europe has never had its own vehicle to return cargo from orbit, and it relies on American and Russian systems to supply the International Space Station. Nyx is meant to change that. In 2026 the European Space Agency selected the company for cargo flights under its commercial resupply programme, and the first Nyx flight has been booked on an Ariane 6 by 2029. That makes the company central to Europe's plans for autonomy in low Earth orbit as the ISS approaches retirement and commercial stations take shape.

The company has moved quickly through testing. Its Mission Possible demonstrator flew in June 2025 and re-entered, though contact was lost before splashdown, and it has since completed parachute drop tests, splashdown trials and structural testing at ESA's technical centre.

Products to know

• Nyx: the reusable cargo capsule, with Earth orbit, lunar orbit and lunar lander versions planned.
• Mission Possible: the demonstrator capsule flown in 2025.
• Storm: a reusable, high-thrust engine under development for a European launcher.

The German angle

Hélène Huby founded the company in July 2021 with co-founders from across Europe, and it runs dual headquarters in Bavaria and near Bordeaux. In October 2025 it opened a new headquarters at Oberpfaffenhofen, west of Munich, where all assembly, integration and testing of Nyx takes place. The site sits next to the German Aerospace Center and its space operations centre, in one of Germany's oldest aerospace clusters. The company is a rare example of a genuinely Franco-German space business, built from the start to draw on both countries' industries and agencies.