The Exploration Company (TEC) is a European aerospace company developing reusable spacecraft. TEC is headquartered in Munich, Bordeaux, and Oberpfaffenhofen with additional offices in Italy, France, Houston (US), and the MENA region. The company embraces a pan-European identity. The Exploration Company was founded in July 2021 by Hélène Huby (CEO) with a group of space engineers who had worked together on European space programs at Airbus and ArianeGroup, including Orion-ESM and ATV. TEC's main project is developing Nyx, a family of modular, reusable spacecraft designed for missions to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), lunar orbit, and the Moon. Its vehicles aim to serve cargo transport, re-entry missions, and future human spaceflight needs.
The Nyx Earth vehicle is composed of a cylindrical service module and a conical space capsule. It measures 4 meters in diameter and 7 meters in height with a total mass of 8 tonnes. It will be capable of carrying 4,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO) for a maximum of 6 months, with up to 2,500 kg of pressurized cargo and 100 kg of unpressurized cargo being onboard the vehicle. The service module of the vehicle will be able to transport 1,400 kg of unpressurized cargo. Nyx Earth will be able to fly freely for up to six months, and will be capable of docking to a space station in LEO.
Although the company's first missions are cargo-only, Nyx Earth is designed to eventually be able to transport humans. The crewed version, capable of transporting 4 to 5 people to LEO, is expected to be available in the mid-2030s.
Nyx Earth's interfaces are open, and its operating system is open-source software, which contributes to other space exploration projects whose technologies can inter-operate. The Nyx capsule is modular in nature, with several configuration options for different mission objectives and destinations, while also being capable of launching on multiple vehicles. Nyx Earth can be reused five times, and will be capable of in-orbit refueling.
Nyx Earth uses green propellants for altitude control and docking (high-test peroxide), as well as cryogenic bio-methane & oxygen for reaching lunar destinations. The Nyx Earth spacecraft's initial missions will use the DS250 hypergolic bipropellant thrusters provided by Agile Space.
The Exploration Company developed two smaller-scale demonstrators. The first, nicknamed Bikini, is a capsule 60 centimeters in diameter weighing approximately 40 kilograms. It was launched on the inaugural flight of Ariane 6 to validate the general profile of the capsule and thermal protection but it never reentered as the upper stage failed to deorbit.
The second demonstrator, named Mission Possible, was a larger capsule measuring 2.5 m in diameter and weighing 1,600 kg, capable of carrying 300 kg of payload (reserved by the European Space Agency, the French CNES, and German DLR). Intended to validate a more controlled reentry with propulsion and landing via parachute, it was launched by the Falcon 9 rideshare mission Transporter-14 in June 2025, operated nominally in orbit, re-entered the atmosphere, and re-established communication after the expected reentry blackout. However, communication with the capsule was lost before expected splash down. The company plans to re-fly the mission.
As of 2023, the full-scale version, named Mission Odyssey, was planned to fly in 2026. In November 2025, just before the ESA ministerial council expected to make a decision about further funding for the LEO Cargo Return Service (LCRS) initiative, TEC's CEO Hélène Huby said that with ESA funding, the company can perform the full-scale demonstration mission by 2028.
The Nyx Cislunar vehicle, of similar design to Nyx Earth, is proposed to deliver up to 5,000 kg to lunar orbit and up to 2,000 kg back to Earth.
The Nyx Moon lunar lander, of simple cylindrical design without the re-entry capsule, is proposed to deliver cargo to lunar surface. It will use the company's GOX/GCH<sub>4</sub>-powered Breeze thrusters. This engine was test fired for the first time in July 2025. As of 2024, the maiden flight of Nyx Moon was expected to take place in 2028.
TEC is developing the Oura spacecraft designed to dock with and refuel satellites in orbit. The project is supported by ESA's In-Space Proof-of-Concepts (InSPoC) initiative, part of Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP). Its first launch is planned for 2028.