The Exploration Company nabs $450 million to challenge SpaceX

According to Huby, funding from the Series C will stretch to also fund Storm, a rocket engine program paving the way for further developments, at least initially. “Where we need more money is to build a launch pad, and to build the rocket itself,” she told journalists.

TEC wouldn’t be the first European commercial space company to launch a rocket — German startup Isar Aerospace crossed that milestone out of Norway last weekend. Huby praised the feat as “great news for the whole ecosystem,” but said that TEC intends to build a much bigger rocket than Isar’s expandable Spectrum vehicle.

However, Isar also has “a much bigger” launch vehicle in its roadmap, Ars Technica reported — presumably for the same reason Huby gave as to why TEC does. “In the next five to 10 years, half of our broadband communication could come from space, data centers could be in space; […] and if this is the case, we need massive rockets and cadence.”

That cadence will rely on reusability, which TEC plans to reach by using the same technology as SpaceX and Stoke: full-flow stage combustion “It’s the most difficult, but also the most efficient engine cycle in the world. It is the first time ever in Europe that a company develops such a rocket engine,” Huby said.

TEC’s advances haven’t gone unnoticed in Europe, with French president Macron and the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen both praising its Series C. It is also not a coincidence that it was disclosed on the eve of the International Space Summit in Paris, where Huby hinted that related announcements will be made.