TORINO (ITALPRESS) – The Exploration Company (TEC), a European space firm with locations in Munich, Bordeaux, and Turin, has announced the completion of the Mission Possible capsule and its shipment to the operational base, where the company will initiate its first demonstration orbital mission. The launch is slated for summer 2025. With the shipment of the capsule, Mission Possible, a test flight carrying a 300 kg payload consisting of scientific experiments and technology demonstrators, enters its final phase. This mission is designed to demonstrate autonomous controlled re-entry, aimed at validating the essential technologies that will lead to the development and operation of Nyx, TEC’s reusable orbital capsule. The mission will test the capsule’s re-entry capabilities from low Earth orbit (LEO), sea landing, and recovery, marking a pivotal step in the advancement of competitive European space vehicles globally. “With the capsule’s departure, we enter a new phase: one in which a European company demonstrates its capability to design, build, and dispatch an orbital vehicle to space in less than two years. This is not just a technical achievement but a strong signal: Europe is building its space capabilities, essential for managing orbital infrastructures and ensuring technological independence in an increasingly competitive global context, developing autonomous solutions in a strategically vital sector for the future. Now, all that’s left to do is look to the sky while we demonstrate crucial capabilities on the path to Nyx’s first orbital flight, scheduled for 2028,” states Hèlène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company.
Nyx is a modular, reusable, and in-orbit refillable space capsule designed to serve both the International Space Station and future commercial stations. In its final configuration, it will be capable of transporting up to 4 tons into orbit and bringing back up to 3 tons to Earth, thanks to a system that is reusable up to ten times and with costs reduced by up to 50% compared to current solutions. The Mission Possible program is entirely self-financed and fits into a broader strategy in which TEC is contributing to the development of an independent and reliable European space logistics capability. Founded in 2021, the company has secured over $230 million in investments, signed six missions with clients like Axiom Space, Starlab, and Vast, and is leading the development program for a reusable European capsule on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). Italy plays a central role in this project. In Turin, TEC has established an engineering hub dedicated to design and development, collaborating with a network of suppliers and industry partners, significantly contributing to the evolution of the capsule and associated technologies.
-photo press office TEC-
(ITALPRESS).
