After the Ariane launchers, Europe intends to develop spacecraft to increase its autonomy in space and reduce its dependence on the Americans. On Wednesday, May 22, at the two-day European Space Summit being held in Brussels to discuss the future of the sector, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it had selected two companies out of seven candidates to develop a cargo ship capable of transporting freight to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to Earth.
These are the Franco-German start-up The Exploration Company and the Franco-Italian group Thales Alenia Space (TAS). The idea is to rapidly select a third company bearing in mind that two other manufacturers have been asked to detail their projects. ESA will then have several suppliers to choose from, similarly to NASA which uses the SpaceX Dragon capsules for its missions to the ISS and hopes to have a second vehicle with the Boeing Starliner.
This competitive bidding is a first and it marks a turning point. Up until now, major projects have always been developed by national or European agencies and financed by governments.
"This will be a service vehicle that will not belong to ESA, and manufacturers will be able to sell it to other customers," said the agency's Paris headquarters, to emphasize the evolution. "We want to introduce the concept of partnership with industry, providing a certain level of funding alongside their private contributions." For phase 1, which will last two years, the selected partners will share a budget of €75 million. In return, they will have to provide a minimum of 20% of the funding over this period, and a minimum of 40% for phases 1 and 2 combined. Phase 2, the development phase starting in 2026, will be more substantial, as it will conclude with a demonstration flight.
Another distinctive feature of this initiative is the rapidity of its execution. Barely six months have elapsed between the launch of the call for tenders in December 2023 and the selection of the European companies today given that the interested parties submitted their bids in February. What's more, the schedule promises to be tight.
The Exploration Company, a start-up founded three years ago by Hélène Huby, plans to launch its Nyx capsule, named after the Greek goddess of Night, in November 2027. The craft will be assembled in Munich and the propulsion system manufactured in Mérignac, in southwest France. A demonstrator called "Bikini" because of its small size (60 centimeters in diameter, weighing 40 kilos) will launch on Ariane-6's maiden flight in July. For its part, TAS will assemble its reusable freighter in Turin for a maiden flight in 2028.
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