The Exploration Company

The Exploration Company (TEC) is a European aerospace startup founded in Q3 2021 by Hélène Huby and a team of space veterans. The company designs, manufactures, and operates Nyx, a family of modular, reusable, and in-orbit refillable spacecraft for cargo missions. The Nyx vehicle family includes Nyx Earth (to LEO stations and back), Nyx Cislunar (to lunar orbit), and Nyx Moon (Earth-to-Moon missions). Nyx is launcher-agnostic, compatible with any heavy launch vehicle worldwide. TEC's technical capabilities span orbital propulsion with reusable thrusters, proprietary docking mechanisms, avionics, flight software, GNC, and re-entry and recovery systems. Headquartered in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, with approximately 400 employees as of 2026, the company raised a $160M Series B in late 2024.