The Exploration Company raises $450m to accelerate Storm engine

(SpaceEnergy) European space-transport company The Exploration Company has raised $450m in Series C financing, with part of the funding earmarked to accelerate development of its reusable Storm rocket engine.

The financing was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT, and brings The Exploration Company’s total funding secured to about $680m.

The company said Storm will use a full-flow staged-combustion cycle with liquid oxygen and biomethane and is intended to support a future reusable European super-heavy launcher capable of placing up to 40 tonnes into low-Earth orbit in reusable configuration.

The funding is expected to support tests including pre-burners with a subscale thrust chamber in the coming months, an oxygen-rich power-pack test and a workhorse-engine test over the next few years.

Founder and chief executive Hélène Huby said the financing would allow the company to accelerate Storm as “the high-thrust propulsion capability Europe needs for its future reusable heavy launcher”.

The round, which remains subject to applicable regulatory approvals, will also fund industrial expansion across engineering, manufacturing, propulsion, mission operations and programme delivery.