Company details

HEADCOUNT

100-499

ORG TYPE

Startup

SECTOR

Transportation & Infrastructure

WEBSITE

http://www.exploration.space/

About the company

The Exploration Company builds Nyx, a modular, reusable, in-orbit refillable spacecraft designed to carry cargo to and from space stations in low-Earth orbit and beyond. The Exploration Company was founded in Q3 2021 by Hélène Huby and a team with experience across major European space programs such as Orion-ESM, Ariane, and ATV. The company positions Nyx as launcher-agnostic, aiming to fly from any heavy launcher worldwide. The Exploration Company also states the company has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA and is targeting first flights starting in 2027.

Locations and presence

The Exploration Company lists Munich (HQ), Bordeaux, Turin, and Houston as core office locations. The Exploration Company also mentions an additional presence in MENA alongside operations across Germany, France, and Italy.

Palpable Score

64.2

/ 100

The Exploration Company offers unusually wide entry-level access for a space startup, with a visible cluster of internships across engineering and operations. Scores drop on hiring fairness and early-career outcomes because public candidate and employee feedback is mixed and the company does not publish early-career progression or retention outcomes.

Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

16.5

/ 20

The company lists 99 open roles with 9 marked as Intern, spanning areas like mission analysis, avionics/software, thermal, composites manufacturing, and test bench development.
The Exploration Company advertises specific internship titles such as Project Management Intern, Intern – Mission Analysis, and Acceptance Test Bench Development – Internship, which are credible “0–3 year” entry points.
The company also posts early-career-friendly operations roles like People Operations Assistant and People Operations Associate, alongside technical internships, widening access beyond engineering-only routes.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

12.4

/ 20

The company’s careers FAQ spells out work permit and visa support, relocation help, remote-work flexibility by role, and internal mobility, which reduces ambiguity for applicants.
The Exploration Company uses a consistent ATS flow with structured job metadata (location, department, employment type) and application consent language, which signals baseline process structure.
The company has multiple candidate accounts describing unstructured interviews, high-burden use-case preparation, and generic rejection communication after live interviews, which weakens trust in the process.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

13.2

/ 20

The company positions internships as hands-on, including test-bench and AIT-adjacent work where interns support real integration and testing activity rather than side projects.
The Exploration Company states a “learning by doing” culture and “frequent feedback to improve” as part of the company values, plus internal mobility as a growth lever.
The company does not clearly publish structured early-career support mechanics (formal ramp plans, buddy systems, learning time, or review cadence) inside role descriptions, limiting what can be verified.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

12.0

/ 20

The company shows at least one published compensation range plus equity for a US engineering role, which is a meaningful pay-transparency signal.
The Exploration Company’s application flows for many roles appear to ask for expected salary rather than consistently publishing ranges, which puts negotiation burden on candidates.
The company is predominantly hiring into full-time roles and publicly commits to relocation and visa support, but benefits detail and junior equity explanation are not consistently visible.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

10.1

/ 20

The company has a solid overall rating and recommendation rate in anonymous employee reviews, suggesting many employees would still point others toward The Exploration Company.
The Exploration Company also has several detailed negative reviews citing heavy workload, weak communication, and a toxic atmosphere, which is a retention risk for early-career hires.
The company does not publish early-career outcome data (intern conversion, promotion timelines, 12–24 month retention), so progression and stability cannot be scored higher with confidence.