The Exploration Company (TEC) has raised $450 million in Series C funding, a record for a mature European space company, the reusable capsule developer said on Tuesday, ahead of the international space summit in Paris.
The funding brings the total amount raised since the company was founded to about $680 million. It will be used to continue developing Nyx, a launcher-agnostic reusable space capsule designed to carry cargo to space stations and return it to Earth.
TEC said the money would also help speed up development of its Storm engine, which runs on liquid oxygen and biomethane and is intended to power a future reusable European heavy-lift launcher.
Founded in 2021 by former Airbus Defence and Space executive Hélène Huby, TEC has more than 550 employees across Europe, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. According to the company, it has secured more than $2 billion in contracts and commitments from public and private customers.
The funding is also meant to support a mission in which Nyx docks with the International Space Station before returning to Earth, demonstrating the capsule’s ability to complete a round-trip orbital cargo flight.
In a statement, French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal was the largest Series C ever raised by a European space company and praised the company’s ambitions and execution, driven by what he called the Franco-German engine.
A Series C round is typically a third stage of fundraising for a company that is already well developed and looking to scale up production.
