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The European Space Agency selected two company on Wednesday to advance pattern of a consignment ballistic capsule that could establish the continent ’s first sovereign admission to outer space .
The two awardees , major aerospace heyday Thales Alenia Space and French startup The Exploration Company , will have € 25 million ( $ 27 million ) each to advance concepts for vehicle that can send cargo to and from stations in scurvy Earth orbit . This initial phase will hunt through 2026 , with additional competitive contract opportunity expected to follow . The aim is to have at least one ejector seat conducting a monstrance flight to the International Space Station ( ISS ) in 2028 and to have a shipment transportation table service online by the end of the ten .
the right way now , Europe relies on its international partners to impart shipment and crowd to space“via a bartering system,”the quad agency explained when it annunciate the LEO Cargo Return Service contracts last year . But the close at hand deorbit of the International Space Station and the upgrade of privately possess space post means that Europe may be leave without a meaningful way to barter , and alternatively would have to pay cash to access space alternatively .
The LEO Cargo Return Service contract was established to hopefully invest that cash in European industrial capacity alternatively . The loading military service could even become a stepping stone to a crewed Department of Transportation capacity , in the same way that SpaceX ’s Dragon condensation has a crewed and a loading - only random variable .
“ It prepares us for the post - ISS era , strengthen European manufacture ’s competitiveness in low-toned Earth orbit surgical procedure , as well as being a test case for the ESA transformation and working differently , ” ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander say in a statement .
The LEO Cargo Return Service contract , which was first foretell last year , is like to NASA ’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program that was established in 2006 . That computer programme resulted in lucrative , multibillion - dollar service contracts to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation ( which is now part of Northrop Grumman ) .
However , NASA ended up paying one C of millions of clam to both contender for the development of their several capsules — SpaceX ’s Cargo Dragon and what is now Northrop ’s Cygnus — so the agency will need to do more lobbying to ensure it gets the money it postulate to fund these capsule through the residue of the decade .
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The Exploration Company CEO Hélène Huby said its condensation , call Nyx , is being designed to serve the International Space Station , the forthcoming secret outer space stations and NASA ’s orbital lunar platform Gateway . The French inauguration has prove around $ 65 million from speculation capitalist for its fomite intent , and the maiden flight is on track for 2026 , Huby confirm in a recent interview .
“ This contract is just the starting line , ” Huby say .
