European space logistics firm The Exploration Company has successfully tested the shielding that will protect its Nyx spacecraft against micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts.
The Exploration Company is developing Nyx, a modular, multirole spacecraft expected to make its debut in 2028. The vehicle is initially intended to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station, with later variants planned for missions to lunar orbit, lunar surface operations, and eventually even crew transportation.
In a 13 November update, the company revealed that it had completed an initial test campaign of the spacecraft’s Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) shield. The activity was carried out under the European Space Agency’s LEO Cargo Return Services initiative. As part of the initiative’s Phase 1 activities, The Exploration Company and Thales Alenia Space, as the only other Phase 1 contract recipients, have been tasked with maturing the design of their respective vehicles, focusing on mission requirements, architectures, technology maturation, and de-risking activities.
According to The Exploration Company, the testing was conducted at the German Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Fraunhofer EMI. The institute maintains light-gas guns at its facilities in Freiburg and Efringen-Kirchen, which are used to simulate hypervelocity impacts. According to the company’s 13 November update, its shielding underwent hypervelocity impact tests at speeds of up to 9 km/s. As a result, the testing likely utilised the Space Light Gas Gun at EMI’s Freiburg facility, which is capable of launching millimetre-sized projectiles at velocities above 9 km/s.
In addition to completing an initial test campaign of its MMOD shield, the company announced in late October that it had successfully concluded an extensive wind-tunnel campaign. The testing was carried out at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) facilities in Cologne and focused on validating the Nyx Earth capsule’s behaviour across the entire flight regime, from subsonic to hypersonic conditions. The data collected will be used to validate and refine the company’s numerical models.
The successful completion of both testing campaigns provides crucial validation for the Nyx spacecraft’s design as The Exploration Company positions itself for Phase 2 of ESA’s LEO Cargo Return Services initiative, which is expected to be considered at the agency’s Ministerial Council meeting later this month.
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