The German aerospace agency DLR has signed on to be an anchor customer for The Exploration Company’s microgravity research service aboard its Nyx spacecraft.
Nyx is a modular, reusable space capsule that will initially be used to transport cargo to and from low Earth orbit and to host in-orbit experiments. In May 2024, The Exploration Company was selected by the European Space Agency as one of two companies working toward a demonstration mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station in 2028. The other company selected was Thales Alenia Space.
On 20 February, during its DLR TecDays in Bonn, the German aerospace agency announced that it had signed a contract with The Exploration Company and would serve as an anchor customer for its microgravity research service. The contract secures space for 160 kilograms of scientific payloads aboard the inaugural flight of the Nyx Earth capsule in 2028.
“We are supporting a startup that provides services that will be particularly valuable in a post-ISS era,” explained Dr. Walther Pelzer, Head of the German Space Agency at DLR.
In addition to the agency’s commitment to the inaugural flight of Nyx Earth, DLR is also involved in experiments that will be carried to orbit aboard The Exploration Company’s subscale Mission Possible demonstrator, set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in June 2025. According to the company, the 300 kilograms of available payload capacity has already been sold.
The RayPairNyx experiment is a collaboration between Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine and is funded by the German Space Agency. The experiment will examine how mold spores behave in a microgravity environment to assess the potential risks that mold poses to astronaut health and life support systems.
