Spaceium, a startup building in-orbit pit stops for interplanetary missions, is teaming up with The Exploration Company on a demo mission to refuel a spacecraft in orbit.
The two companies are betting on a future in-space servicing economy, and their missions and timelines mesh well.
Spaceium is heads down designing and building a refueling, charging, and debris storage station prototype with a modular architecture to launch next year, and The Exploration Company’s Nyx craft, which is also targeting a demo flight in 2024, is designed to gas up between months-long trips around Earth or the Moon. It’s a match made in…space.
The partnership: Spaceium and The Exploration Company announced this morning that they have signed a bilateral letter of intent to demonstrate cryogenic refueling using Nyx and the planned orbiting service station.
- The station would be stocked with cryogenic bio-methane and oxygen.
- The two companies have also agreed to use Nyx as a host for a servicing module in 2026.
The exploration continues: Nyx has big plans in store. The Exploration Company announced Tuesday that it signed an agreement with Axiom Space to use Nyx to supply a cargo mission to the company’s planned space station.
After the capsule’s demo flight next year, The Exploration Company has a few more flights planned. The first operational flight to and from Earth orbit is targeting 2026, and the company is targeting the capsule’s first flight to the Moon and back two years later.
