Company - The Exploration Company
Product/Service - Nyx
- Classification
- Cargo Transportation & Landers
- Category
- Transport Service (Earth-LEO)
Transport Service (LEO-Moon)
In-Space Manufacturing
Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)
Microgravity Flight Service (Reusable Satellite)
Commercial Lander
Commercial Lunar Lander
- Fields
- Automated Microgravity Laboratory
Hopper
Moon
- Status
- Development
- First launch
- 2024
Nyx
Do you want to demonstrate a technology, perform an experiment, or market your product in space? We plan to fly our demonstration model in September 2024. We have room for 300 kg payload.
The technical bricks of Nyx are built with open interfaces: they are available on a SpaceStore to enable space & non-space companies to use them and develop new applications.
Nyx provides a wide scope of missions ranging from 6 months around the Earth (and re-entry) to landing on the Moon (and coming back), or performing 100km hopping on the Moon. Nyx can resupply space stations and large space infrastructures. Nyx has the potential to carry humans.
Missions
- Earth Orbit - 2024 Demo Flight
- Back to Earth - 2026 Maiden Flight
- Moon And Back to Earth - 2028
- 5,500 kg to the Lunar Gateway.
- 5,000 kg hopping at lunar surface.
- 2,000 kg to lunar surface.
- Landing and hopping 50-100km point-to-point.
- To the Moon or Lunar Gateway, and back to Earth. Fast last mile delivery at lunar surface.
- 150k€ per kg starting at 150k EUR per kg.
- “This is our main business, servicing space stations,” she said. “Most of our missions that are in the business plan are two-thirds space station, because there is clearly a cargo need.”
- The company is aiming to conduct an initial demonstration mission using a prototype called Bikini in January 2024. That mission was originally scheduled to fly with Arianespace’s Ariane 6 in the fall of this year, but due to delays with that launch vehicle, The Exploration Company decided to move to the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
- Being launch vehicle agnostic now and into the future is one of The Exploration Company’s key differentiators, Huby explained.
News
- Selected to participate in AWS Space Accelerator Program.
- The Exploration Company has selected SKYTRAC’s Iridium Certus midband Satcom terminal for data transmission from their space capsule to the ground. The Exploration Company has selected SKYTRAC’s DLS-100, cutting-edge data link transceivers, to be installed onboard this capsule demonstrator. Capable of real-time command and control, telemetry streaming, and photo/video transmission the DLS-100 will enable 22 Kbps uplink speeds through the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation.
- In-space mobility provider Benchmark Space Systems has been selected by The Exploration Company, a European start-up developing in-orbit exploration vehicles, to develop the propulsion system for its second demonstrator flight (‘Mission Possible’) which is set to launch in 2024.
- The Exploration Company and Frontier Space Technologies have joined forces as part of the UK Space Agency International Bilateral Fund (IBF) and will investigate within phase 1, the feasibility of a commercial end-to-end service for in-orbit biopharma research on Nyx, our reusable spacecraft.
Crysalis
The aim of the Crysalis project is to develop a system for the transfer and long-term storage of cryogenic propellant in microgravity and for refuelling in space. This project opens up new prospects for exploration, particularly in terms of transport and storage in orbit and long-duration missions.
Start the Assembly, Integration & Test of our subscale capsule in summer 2023.