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Home > Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast > Hélène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company: 'Only the crazy people change the world'
Podcast: Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast
Episode:

Hélène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company: 'Only the crazy people change the world'
Category: Business
Duration: 00:50:05
Publish Date: 2026-03-13 10:00:00
Description:

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 
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