From Sifted.eu, October 14:
SpaceX competitor The Exploration Company nears deal to raise €150m in fresh funding
The Munich and Bordeaux-based startup is building a reusable space capsule
Spacetech has been a hot topic for investors of late, and one of the buzziest such companies in Europe, Munich and Bordeaux-based The Exploration Company (TEC), is nearing a deal to raise €150m in fresh funding, according to a source with direct knowledge of the fundraise. The new raise would put the company’s post-money valuation at around €450m, they said. Sifted understands the final details of the raise are being ironed out and the amounts could change; London-based Balderton Capital is one of the new investors involved in the round, Sifted understands.
The company, which is building what it says is the first privately-funded reusable space capsule that can fly to space stations and the moon, is expected to close the round imminently, according to two sources. TEC did not return Sifted’s request for comment. Balderton Capital also did not return Sifted’s request for comment.
The company last raised €40m in February last year, in a Series A round co-led by EQT Ventures.
Earlier in the summer, TEC’s first capsule made it to space along with French rocket Ariane 6. TEC was also recently one of two companies to win a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide cargo return services to the International Space Station. TEC was awarded an initial €25m to build a commercial cargo service to low-Earth orbit by 2028. It’s a similar contract to the much larger one Elon Musk’s SpaceX won from NASA over a decade ago that helped boost the company....
....MUCH MORE
As we were saying in this morning's "Best Footage Of SpaceX Catching The Super Heavy Booster": One of the keys to lowering the cost of space flight has been the re-use of the booster rockets....
You have to do it with capsules as well.
