Munich-based The Exploration Company (TEC) said Monday it has raised $450 million in Series C funding, calling it the largest single space round ever closed by a European company, as it works to build a sovereign European alternative to SpaceX.
Who Wrote The Cheque
The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and the EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund, with Bessemer partner Alex Ferrara joining TEC's board. The company has now raised more than $600 million from private investors, alongside institutional commitments from the European Space Agency and NASA. Atomico said Nyx has 10 missions and more than $2 billion in contracts booked.
Two Programs, One Roadmap
Chief executive Hélène Huby said most of the capital funds Storm, the methane-oxygen full-flow staged combustion engine that will power Europe's next heavy-lift launcher — the same architecture used by SpaceX Raptor and Stoke Nova. Enough is left over to keep pushing Nyx, TEC's reusable capsule, toward a demo docking with the International Space Station in November 2028.
Sovereignty Tailwind
The timing is not accidental: the round was announced on the eve of the International Space Summit in Paris and drew endorsements from French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Reuters has reported SpaceX is increasingly reserving Falcon 9 slots for its own Starlink payloads, a squeeze that pushed commercial customers to look for European capacity.
Race With Isar And Stoke
TEC's Series C landed the same day US rival Stoke Space said it is raising a $1 billion Series E, and days after Isar Aerospace's Spectrum became the first commercial European rocket to reach orbit. Huby congratulated Isar and said TEC's own launcher will target a much larger class of vehicle.
Reporting based on coverage from TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Atomico and The Exploration Company's Series C announcement.