Hélène Huby, founder and CEO of spacetech startup The Exploration Company, is not afraid to take risks — or fail.

Her company, which is only five years old, builds reusable and refillable vehicles to carry cargo to and from space stations in low-Earth orbit — and beyond. 

It’s already (semi-) successfully sent cargo into space — and back — at a fraction of the cost, and time, achieved by other companies. 

On this episode of the Sifted podcast, Hélène shares The Exploration Company’s roadmap for 2026, including fundraising plans for a “significant amount of money” to build a high-thrust rocket engine. 

Hélène and Amy also get into: 

• Why the space industry is set to more than double in value over the next decade 
• Collaborating in space during a decidedly antagonistic geopolitical moment
• Contracts in the works 
• The ideal funding roadmap for a deeptech company 
• Dealing with very public failure as a CEO 
• And Hélène’s hopes and dreams for Europe’s space future