WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency has selected one of the continent’s largest space companies and one of its best-funded startups for research contracts that could lead to commercial cargo and crew vehicles.
ESA announced on May 22 that it had awarded contracts worth about 25 million euros ($27 million) each to Thales Alenia Space and The Exploration Company. The two companies will advance their concepts for vehicles designed to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station and commercial space stations.
“Today, ESA further proved its leadership in space for Europe and European citizens. The signing of the Low Earth Orbit Cargo Return Services contracts shows how ESA has modernized to meet the demands of the next era of the space economy,” said Josef Ashabcher, ESA Director General, in a statement.
ESA announced plans for the cargo vehicle program at the European Space Meeting in Seville, Spain, last November. The program, modeled after NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) efforts of nearly two decades ago, will provide support for commercially developed vehicles that could offer cargo transportation services and could later be converted to spacecraft with crew.
Contracts with Thales Alenia Space and The Exploration Company cover initial design work for their vehicles. ESA will seek funding for later phases at its next ministerial meeting in late 2025, with the aim of having at least one vehicle ready to enter service by 2028.
Thales Alenia Space, one of Europe’s largest space companies, is offering a capsule it claims will be compatible with the ISS and commercial space stations, as well as the Lunar Gateway. Thales facilities in Italy and France will be involved in the project along with Altec, a joint venture between Thales Alenia Space Italia and the Italian space agency ASI, for the ground segment.
“Using its experience in space exploration infrastructure and vehicles, the company, fully in line with the vision of the European Space Agency, wishes to invest in the development of technological solutions to give Europe sustainable access to low Earth orbit,” said Massimo Comparini, Deputy CEO and Senior Executive Vice President of Thales Alenia Space, in a statement.
The Exploration Company is a startup company working on spacecraft designed to transport cargo to and from Earth orbit and into cislunar space. Its first demonstration mission is scheduled to fly on the inaugural launch of Ariane 6, now scheduled for the first half of June. The company raised $44 million in a Series A round in early 2023, one of the largest early-stage rounds for a European space startup.
“We want to fly to the space station in ’27, so we’ve already started work on the last spacecraft,” Helen Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company, said in an interview during the 39th Space Symposium last month. That vehicle, she said, will be ready for a design preview this summer.
While bidding on the ESA program, Huby said he worked to win business from American companies operating commercial space stations. The company announced earlier this month that it had opened a U.S. office led by Mark Kirasich, a former NASA employee whose roles at the agency include Orion program manager.
“If all goes well,” she said at the time, “we will have an American client and a European client.”
ESA did not immediately disclose how many companies submitted proposals or why the agency chose two when it previously said it could choose up to three. ESA officials previously said they have seen strong interest in the program based on participation in procurement meetings.
Among the companies that expressed interest in the competition were ArianeGroup, which proposed a reusable vehicle called SUSIE, and Rocket Factory Augsburg, which announced earlier this year a cargo vehicle called Argo, which proposed in collaboration with Space Cargo Unlimited and ATMOS Space Cargo.
