This deal clearly shows what space travel could look like in the future: The start-up Exploration Company from Planegg near Munich is scheduled to fly cargo to the private Axiom space station for the American space company Axiom Space at the end of 2027. This is what a pre-booking contract says, which both companies made public this Tuesday. Background: The German-French start-up wants to build space capsules in Planegg and Bordeaux that are designed to transport cargo to space stations in Earth orbit and is already offering them to future space station operators.
This approach is new. The Airbus Group also has five transport capsules in Bremen ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) were built, each of which brought around 7.5 tons to the International Space Station (ISS) between 2008 and 2014. But these spaceships came into being on behalf of the space agency Esawhich thus made a European contribution to the ISS.
That was yesterday’s business model, so to speak. The so-called new space companies, which want to bring more flexibility to the industry, are not waiting for government orders. The three German start-ups Hyimpulse, Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg, for example, are developing small rockets that they then want to sell to agencies and private customers.
“Nyx” can carry five tons of cargo
At the Exploration Company it is a capsule called Nyx. It should be able to transport five tons of cargo and weigh about twice as much. A six-month test flight is planned for 2026. Nyx In contrast to the previous Esa freighter, it is reusable and is intended to fly with green hydrogen peroxide fuel. In the long term, company boss Hélène Huby wants to further develop the capsule for transporting astronauts, which could also be interesting for Axiom.
The agreement with Axiom initially provides for one flight. The capsule is compatible with several launch vehicles including Ariane 6 and Falcon 9. It is remarkable that the Houston company is signing such a contract with a European start-up. Axiom has become known for having flown a one- to two-week private science mission to the ISS in spring 2022 and 2023. That’s why Axiom has it DragonSpace-X capsule booked, further flights are being planned. The actual goal is to open our own private space station, the first module of which is expected to launch into Earth orbit in 2026. It is being built by the French-Italian group Thales Alenia Space and will provide space for research and production in zero gravity.
For this Axiom needs feeders. “It is important for Axiom to also work with European players,” says Huby. Axiom wants to “build a partnership with several reliable partners – we are in this together with Space-X” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/.”Our joint efforts will underline what is possible when the USA and Europe in the in the area of microgravity and the development of groundbreaking space innovations,” said Axiom technology chief Matt Ondler.
Huby can apparently compete with Elon Musk’s company Space-X, which regularly transports cargo and astronauts to the ISS. “We will do the flight at the market price, which is 150 to 200 million dollars.” In other words, the usual price per kilogram for transporting cargo to a space station is $75,000. “We’re cheaper,” says Huby confidently.
Money and new technologies stay in Europe
The Frenchwoman, on the other hand, is “surprised that my first contract doesn’t come from Esa, but from an American company.” Nyx According to them, it costs 300 million euros, financed by private investors. “I take care of the development costs, the money and the new technologies stay in Europe.” That’s why a European anchor order is important. “Space-X received $300 million from NASA to develop its cargo ship,” says Huby. “We offer our cargo ship Nyx to the ESA member states for 150 million euros.”
Huby is also in discussions with other companies that are planning space stations, and this always involves transporting astronauts. “Private investors are enough for a cargo ship, but for an astronaut capsule I need the support of European countries,” she says. “Flying astronauts means ten years of development and three billion euros in development costs.” Politics will ultimately have to decide on this. The Exploration Company would “take on 50 percent of the costs within a public-private partnership,” announces Huby.
She therefore sees her Axiom mandate as a signal: “This agreement shows politicians how great the opportunities lie in space logistics as a business area and that Europe can take the lead here if we invest together.”