The Exploration Company cargo vehicle rendering

A rendering of The Exploration Company's Nyx vehicle.

On May 22 at the Space Council in Brussels, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher signed contracts with Hélène Huby from The Exploration Company based in Germany, and Massimo Comparini from Thales Alenia Space based in Italy, to develop a low Earth orbit (LEO) cargo return service.

Member States of ESA decided to launch this competition for European industry at the Space Summit in November, asking companies to propose a first step towards a cargo service to and from space stations in low Earth orbit, such as the International Space Station. Just six months later, after evaluating several proposals from European companies, ESA has selected two projects that will go ahead in the competition, awarding 25 million euros of funding to each to support them in developing the cargo service.