In the space exploration sector, start-ups are not to be outdone. Everything is going very fast. Hélène Huby illustrates this. In July 2021, after ten years at Airbus, in particular ArianeGroup, she founded The Exploration Company to manufacture a reusable spacecraft carrying freight and, in the longer term, men. Joined by about twenty engineers, this enarque graduate of Normale-Sup sets up her company in Germany, near Munich, and in France in Bordeaux.
Learning from her former boss, André-Hubert Roussel, that there is a possibility of having a prototype on board the first Ariane 6 flight scheduled for the end of 2022, she filed a request with the European Space Agency. His file is retained in December. Nine months later, the “Bikini” mission is ready. “We chose this name because the demonstrator is very small, sixty centimeters by eighty and weighs thirty-five kilos”, laughs the leader of this start-up. It will be a question of testing the resistance of its heat shield during re-entry into the atmosphere.
Microgravity experiments
The pace of development is steady. Every two years, a new launch and a new evolution are planned. In 2024, this ship, baptized “Nyx” in reference to the Greek goddess of the creation of the cosmos, will be larger (1.6 tonnes) and will be able to carry 300 kilos of cargo. It will evolve in low orbit for several hours around the Earth. “We already have 200 kilos reserved” she says. Customers, industrialists or researchers, want to validate technologies or carry out microgravity experiments. Two years later, in October 2026, it will have its normal size, four meters wingspan, will carry four tons of cargo, and will remain in orbit for six months, with the possibility of supplying space stations. And, in 2028, Nyx will be motorized and will then be able to go to the Moon.
“The advantage of a small structure like The Exploration Company is to make decisions very quickly, everyone is responsible, rather than spending days doing studies, we are constantly testing”, appreciates Hélène Huby. In these conditions “Failure is not blocking, it makes us move forward”, she says, embracing SpaceX’s philosophy. Thus, gradually, “A bit like the iPhone, we are adding new functions to our ship”.
“We will be the first in the world to use green propulsion for a spacecraft with hydrogen peroxide”
You have 48.85% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.