The Zhitong Finance App learned that the capitalization wave of the space race is accelerating simultaneously across both sides of the Atlantic. On Monday (July 27), according to British media reports, European space startup The Exploration Company GmbH is discussing financing of at least 300 million US dollars. Part of the capital comes from the European Union's “Scaleup Europe Fund” (Scaleup Europe Fund). If the deal is completed, the company's valuation will exceed 2 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, SpaceX (SPCX.US) completed the 13th Starship test flight on Friday, deploying 20 working Starlink V3 satellites for the first time — the first Starship flight since the company launched in June. Europe is catching up to America's commercial space leadership with real money, while SpaceX is using technological milestones to respond to capital market questions.
European “challenger”: “Mini SpaceX” sprint IPO, $300 million financing and $2 billion valuation
According to media reports on July 27, SpaceX's potential competitor in Europe, The Exploration Company GmbH is negotiating to raise at least 300 million US dollars. Part of the capital comes from the European Union's “Scaleup Europe Fund” (Scaleup Europe Fund), which is managed by the Swedish investment group EQT AB. If this round of financing were completed, the German-based space startup would be valued at more than $2 billion. If completed, this will be another large-scale capital injection after the company received approximately US$160 million in financing in 2024 — the last round was supported by the French and German governments.
The Nyx capsule: Europe's first reusable cargo spacecraft
The Exploration Company was founded in 2021 and is led by Hélène Huby, a former Airbus and Ariane Group engineer. Currently, the team size has expanded to about 400 people. The company is developing a reusable cargo space capsule called Nyx, with a diameter of about 4 meters and designed to fit any heavy launch vehicle. The goal is to send a payload of up to 4 tons to low Earth orbit and achieve recycling at sea. Nyx is Europe's core project to establish autonomous space logistics capabilities.
In June of this year, the Nyx parachute system completed launch tests in California's Mojave Desert, verifying the critical transition from a speed bump to a main umbrella. The company also established an American entity TEC Federal in Houston this month to obtain contracts from the US government such as NASA.
According to reports on July 9, The Exploration Company is moving towards the goal of the 2028 Nyx cargo version orbital flight test. The mission is expected to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, and its initial development is funded by the European Space Agency's Low-Earth Orbit Cargo Return Program.
From 160 million to 300 million: the double endorsement of European governments and capital
This is not the first time that the company has received large-scale financing. In 2024, The Exploration Company completed a funding round of approximately US$160 million. Investors included the French Sovereign Fund for Science and Technology (Tech Souveraineté) and the German DeepTech and Climate Fonds (DeepTech and Climate Fonds), and received support from funding programs supported by the French and German governments.
If this round of financing is successful, it will mark the first time that Europe has the ability to compete head-on with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in the field of commercial cargo spacecraft. However, as industry analysis points out, “it is still difficult to compete head-on with SpaceX in the short term in terms of launch capability, flight verification, and commercial order size.”
SpaceX Starship “Thirteen Flies”: Debuted after launch, first deployment of a real satellite
On the other side of the Atlantic, SpaceX completed the 13th Starship test flight in the early morning of July 25, Beijing time. This is the second flight of the Starship V3 version, and the first Starship test flight since SpaceX's June IPO.
First deployment of a real payload: Starlink V3 satellite
In this mission, for the first time, the Starship carried 20 working Starlink V3 satellites and successfully deployed them. Each Starlink V3 satellite weighs more than 2 tons. The solar windshield has a wingspan of 60 meters, and the single star's downstream communication capacity is 1 Tbps, which is 10.7 times that of the previous V2 Mini. The SpaceX team successfully established communication with all 20 satellites via radio frequency and laser links.
However, these satellites are all test satellites. After being released for about 20 minutes to complete technical verification, they were controlled to re-enter the atmosphere and burn and decompose, and did not operate in orbit for a long time. The Starship is fully loaded with 60 V3 satellites. A single launch can add 60 Tbps of bandwidth to the constellation, and the capacity is equivalent to 40 times that of Falcon 9.
The spacecraft successfully reignited a raptor engine in space for about 14 seconds. In the end, the Starship spacecraft achieved controlled soft-drop in the Indian Ocean and floated completely on the surface of the sea, providing important images of a complete thermal protection system for the first time. A SpaceX spokesperson called it “the softest spill so far.”
However, only some of the engines of the super-heavy booster successfully ignited during the landing ignition, and it was hard splashed in the Gulf of Mexico at a higher speed than expected. SpaceX CEO Musk said on social media: “The Starship is in perfect condition and is floating in the ocean and transmitting telemetry data!”
Prior to this test flight, SpaceX experienced the twists and turns of two launch attempts — July 16 was automatically interrupted due to abnormal turbopumps of 4 raptor engines, and delayed on July 23 due to weather conditions. After the launch was suspended, SpaceX's stock price once fell below the IPO price, and more than 1 trillion US dollars evaporated from a higher market capitalization point. Analysts at Morgan Stanley pointed out that the stock price is close to the level where the market does not value the AI business at all.
Technical verification: from “hard landing” to “softest spill”
In terms of key technical verification, the spacecraft completed a 14-second reignition test of the Space Raptor engine, which was significantly longer than previous tests — a hard prerequisite for orbital flight. The spacecraft then completed controlled re-entry and eventually splashed in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot called it the “softest spill” to date and emphasized “this is the first time a complete starship has been put into the water”. The spacecraft did not immediately explode as in previous missions after being splashed; instead, it floated on the surface of the sea and continued to send back telemetry data and re-enter the image.
In terms of boosters, all 33 engines ignited normally. Thirteen engines were reignited as planned during the return phase, but some of the engines were unexpectedly not fully ignited, causing the booster to hit the surface of the sea faster than expected.
Industry Implications: The Transatlantic Space Race Has Entered a New Phase
SpaceX has maintained an absolute dominant position in the industry with a market capitalization of around $2.1 trillion. Starship's transformation from prototype testing to commercial launch, superimposing the prospects for large-scale deployment of the Starlink V3 satellite, is further consolidating its competitive advantage. Meanwhile, Europe is building alternatives on multiple levels. Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo's “Bromo Project” aims to build a sizeable European space company; orders for the Ariane 6 rocket are full; customers come from inside and outside Europe, especially the US; and The Exploration Company represents a “lightweight” path — entering the market through reusable cargo spacecraft.
The new round of financing highlights the growing strategic interest of European governments and private capital in Europe's commercial space sector. Against the backdrop of European space giants such as Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo merging their space divisions through the “Bromo Project” to cope with the rapid expansion of Starlink, the rise of The Exploration Company represents a different path — building European autonomous capabilities in the segment of reusable spacecraft by supporting innovative startups.
Europe is using a combination of policy and capital to build local space capabilities. If The Exploration Company completes this round of financing, it will be superimposed on the first phase contract of 25 million euros previously granted by ESA and a potential second phase capital of 200 million euros. The intervention of the EU's “European Scaling Fund” indicates that Europe has raised reusable cargo spacecraft to a strategic priority.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is facing strict scrutiny of technology execution by the capital market. The success of Starship's 13th test flight — particularly the deployment of a real satellite for the first time — provided critical verification for “moving from prototype testing to commercial delivery.” However, ongoing problems with the booster landing ignition suggest that full reuse is still a long way off. Meanwhile, NASA hopes to use Starships to complete manned lunar landing missions in 2028, and time pressure is piling up.
When Europe's Nyx plans to make its first orbital flight in 2028, SpaceX's starship is expected to have achieved high-frequency commercial launches. The intersection of the two timelines will define the competitive landscape of global commercial aerospace in the next decade.