The European Space Agency has awarded The Exploration Company a €760 million contract under the second phase of its European cargo return programme, covering an initial demonstration of its Nyx spacecraft and options for two additional flights.
ESA announced that it had awarded The Exploration Company (TEC) the Phase 2 contract on 10 September during the International Space Summit in Paris. The agreement forms part of the agency’s Autonomous LEO Accelerated Demo Docking to ISS Node (ALADDIN) initiative, previously known as the LEO Cargo Return Service initiative.
“We started the development of Nyx with private funding only, and we are now at a technical maturity level where ESA and Member States’ public funding can support us massively, as anchor clients, to help us finalize the vehicle,” said TEC CEO Hélène Huby. “It is also the first time in Europe that a five-year-old space startup wins a contract worth hundreds of millions of euros in open competition.”
According to the agency, The Exploration Company was awarded the Phase 2 contract after demonstrating that it had met key technical readiness milestones and secured private investment covering 40% of the financing required for the Nyx demonstration mission. ESA will provide the remaining 60%. Earlier this week, TEC announced that it had closed a $450 million Series C funding round, bringing the company’s total funding secured since its founding in 2021 to approximately $680 million.
“This contract officially launches the Phase 2 of ALADDIN, getting Europe one step closer to developing a key capability which only a handful of nations have mastered,” said Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s Director for Human and Robotic Exploration.
A total of €310 million has been allocated to the initial demonstration mission to the ISS. The remaining €450 million covers options for two additional service missions to be confirmed at a later date. These additional missions could fly to either the ISS or a future commercial space station.
TEC’s Nyx demonstration mission will be launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket and is expected to dock with the ISS no later than the second quarter of 2029, the final window available to ESA before the station’s planned retirement. The choice of Ariane 6 also makes the mission eligible for an additional ESA incentive worth up to €50 million, which the agency introduced to encourage participating companies to use European launch vehicles.
Both The Exploration Company and Thales Alenia Space Italy received Phase 1 contracts under the initiative. While TEC has now secured the first Phase 2 award, ESA said in a statement that it remains committed to maintaining competition in the emerging European commercial cargo transportation market and is continuing a second-stage tendering process with Thales Alenia Space.
