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00:00I'm very pleased to welcome Helene Huby, who is the CEO of The Exploration Company, and she has the honor of being the only woman. I think this is still correct. The only woman in the world to run a space company. The only woman in the world to run a space company is this. This is still true. To run a rocket a spaceship. capsule company, Yeah. This is this is correct. You are the woman I saw running space companies. Let's the for whatever reason, the vehicle by the transportation vault has to be lit so far by a woman's, so. OK. this sounds like inspiring stuff enough. And I mean, the whole economics of space has taken something that used to be the subject of science fiction novels to now a genuine business opportunity for you and for lots of people who work in this industry. So we're gonna dive a little bit into that and talk about your experience of running this business and what got you that. So the exploration company says you make space exploration affordable, sustainable and open a global endeavor with European roots. But I can't book a flight tomorrow. So tell me what it is that your business is doing right now. Yeah. So we are doing space capsule. I think probably everyone, you know, here in the room has seen us when I was going to the dragon, I suppose going to the studios. Right. So you have China doing spacecrafts. Do you have the United States doing space capsules? You'll have Russia doing space capsule. And we are the first in Europe to the space capsule. So we've start with cargo, bring cargo to space stations. And today you have two space stations on the earth, the space station and the Chinese space station. Tomorrow is where the end of the decade you probably have three four five space station on the earth. It's a market which is growing very fast. And then you have now two stations being built around the moon and you are very, very few vehicles. And Europe has no vehicle to go to these new destinations. So you can actually go on our website, not you can not book, let's say, a seat as a human. Not yet. Not yet. Because it takes it takes 10 years to take testing. It takes a lot of testing. It takes it's quite complex. But if you want to send a postcard, oh, if any of your children, you just go on a website and you actually have a B2C platform where you can, you know, send stuff in space, whatever is important for you. And we have the first flight in August, actually. So it will be quite fast. This is the first flight in August. And that is to test the it's called the next video of equally good mix just to give some some figures and et cetera. So we are 18 month old baby starting looking. We've raised about 50 million. We just closed the biggest series ever raised in Europe. I was based a company in quite difficult economic circumstances. We on about 60 people right now with a headquarter in Germany and it's here in France. And so we built first. First thing we did is we built a baby capsule because we had to start a privately funded race so we cannot build a huge vehicle. We started with something where we could prove basically what we can deliver on truck, on quality, on schedule. And these baby capsules, are going to fly in August, so they must ride. Are we going to re-enter the atmosphere? You'll have to be very stable. You have to sustain temperature around about 1800 degrees while maintaining internal temperature around about 45 degrees. And so that's this. Your next step is next year already. October 24, we're going to fly your teenage capsule, one point sixteen 2.5 metre diameter. So you already can sit inside again. No humans with cargo. And here we have real clients. So we have European Space Agency, which has bought two data. Was it flying two pedals with those? We have airbus flying with us. We have the French space agency, German space agency. So they see the core space agency or flying. And this is for October 24 and we launch in space. And what is it that these space agencies and these businesses want to fly into space? What is it that they that they will pay you to transport up into space? Is this about science? Is it about experimentation? Yeah. So I think what's super interesting is that traditionally Space Station were a place where it was all about science and also international cooperation. It was built at the beginning by by the by the Russian and the Americans joined. And we came up to the International Space Station, which is a beautiful concept. And it was all about preparing, making experiments basically to prepare us as humans to leave in space. And what is happening now is two things which are, I think, all going to change profoundly. The infrastructure business in space. The first thing is that we've discovered doing science in space station that lots of things that conserve the earth not only done for space, but like really serve the earth, like microgravity, for example, an environment where stem cells, they grow faster, they grow. So it's it's so you have you can grow them in a more sustainable manner and will sleep matter. So this is huge for for example, for my industry only point was, OK, it cost a lot of money to bring that stuff up there. So. Is it worth but if you have like flights regularity in the air and it's not cost, you choose money, then you start having a business where they're from, basically project research being number there and useful for the year. So that's one main train. And a second trend is basically the of staff shape, which has a huge long trail off of its basics. That's going to make it not only cheaper to build infrastructure in space, but also easier in the sense that we're going to able we'll be able to send huge volumes five times the volume we can send right now. And so I think this will trigger a new era of new infrastructures in space, not only for living in space, but also for storing stuff in space and of course, also for military purposes. And so the first of those where you're talking about saving the science community, for example, you call that the boomerang effect. I think where this is something that benefits us down on earth, is that the most compelling reason if we step take a step back and think about why. Why go to space? Why explore space? Is that the most compelling reason? Is it because it saves life on Earth? I mean, because you can look around Earth and see plenty of things to throw money at. Plenty of problems that need fixing. So I suppose when you when you do that, sometimes you ask yourself, well, why do we need to go to space? Is the boomerang effect one of the reasons? So I speak generally and then also for the expression company. Why are we doing what we're doing? But generally speaking, there is lots of sometimes noise about space foods and then, you know, do billionaires work in space? OK, I think if we take some distance, you know, space is a place where you have all the imagery satellites. So this is the only way we can understand climate change and know it is data has become critical for farmers to optimize the way they use water or to use fertilizer. It has become critical for logistic companies to optimize, let's say, to use basically less energy. It's becoming also very important, of course, for financial markets. So so all this imagery coming from space is a huge tool on the earth to optimize all activities and make them more efficient. So that's one path. The second part of the boomerang effect is. When you're on space station. You'll have to recycle everything. It's not like, hey, I'm putting the you know, I'm willing to have some tap water. There is no tap water in the space station. There are three sources of water, urine from the astronauts, which is fully recycled. The humidity of when we speak. You know, you create humidity and then the limit of the water, which is remaining from experiments and that's it. That's it, so you can imagine the recycling system that had been put in place and actually the membrane that we use on Earth to purify water have been invented for the space station. Other things which told on in space station is like, are we using the plastic bag, transforming into powder and putting the powder? And with this part of printed the repair pieces for the station you set out on Earth. I mean, you're sort of classic problems, right? And you need some repair vibrational orbital with as it was. So there are still lots of technology that has not been unleashed in space. But a space station is Probably the most wonderful laboratory to test technologies that's going to make all the lives on earth a ways more sustainable just because by definition is so hard to live there. Yes, you have to be super energy efficient and you have to recycle as much and extremely innovative. But these techniques are so, so so that answers that question. You've mentioned being European a few times. I wondered how important that is. And I know that part of your background is having worked at Airbus and clearly that's a European business. How important do you think it is that Europe has a strong presence in space? Yeah, I think it's critical. It's critical because when we've we had wars since like centuries like since ever in Europe. And very, very sad to see that we still have a war today, unfortunately. But OK, between, let's say, countries like France, Germany, UK, we're now in peace now. And I think these corporations, period has become key for identity. And when you look up, there has been a time when cooperation was possible, especially the space station between the United States and Russia. And today what we see there is a confrontational development more and more and I have to say the naivety to hope that I believe that if an alternative country comes here, we have a more sustainable manner to travel in space. That's why we're using clean propellant and that's why we're saying, hey, we are making space sustainable. We have a causative way of doing things. So, for example, where we open source or interfaces so that we can we can go to Chinese space station, Indian Space Station, to American Space Station. Well, we're not going to change the world, right. But if we can be a critical player, you're building literally real bridges between various infrastructures. This is very inspiring for what is happening on earth. And I don't want to neglect the power of inspiration. I think wonderful, horrible words on earth and we see there people with different nationalities still able to build friendship. What about initially these ultras because they are human? That's a very important message. So that's that's why I'm very proud that, you know, that becoming a critical European player, not only it's important for the future of our children because our future is happening up there. So we have no capacity to go there. We just missed part of our future. But this can also have triple down effect on earth, bringing these cooperative spirit in what is probably a future of humanity and where for the time being, I see a lot of confrontation and not so many cooperate. Know you've mentioned sustainable. Why is why is the Nix capsule? Why is this more sustainable, more sustainable? Three reasons. First, we use green propellant, which is also first time ever in the world. Normally use Hydrazin and if you smell a hydrazine you are just dead. So it's it's quite toxic. The second reason is, is that we are reusable. We're not the only ones others are reusable But of course, you know, this is important is the beauty of the capsule and Third, not for the first virgins, but for the longer down the road we're going to be able to refuel capsule in space, meaning that we can use 40, 50 times the same vehicles and we don't have to come back to be sure they launch again, which is a huge it's a waste of energy and cost also. You've mentioned Space X a few times, which makes me think of the voices that we hear more often, perhaps talking about space travel, that the very wealthy ones, the the male voices that we hear often. What is it like working in the same space as as those as those very loud, very, very wealthy people who we hear a lot from. What do they bring? Yeah. So I think first they are... I mean, most kids earn inspiration for every space engineer because he's achieved a. Incredible things that many people thought it would be. It would not be possible to the risible. I'm sure he's done a reasonable lunch hour now to try it his home that we stopped. It is quite astonishing. So it's like when you're a painter or when you're a musician, you learn from the masters and then you become yourself a master. So I want to be very humble. Most is, you know, has done amazing enduring things. And we are learning from that. And of course, like every every, let's say, musicians in the being or in the becoming. You want to become at some point even better. But that's that's not fair today. But we are learning as fast as we get the student bodies, of course. I think, though, the. No management style and motivation, it's We are very different, of course. The expression company and do with what motivations by the sound of things? Different motivations. I feel I explain a bit why I believe it's very important to have different players building the structure of humanity. What we have in common and with many people's working space is that I think we are at a turning point. What I can do is 16th century humanity was able to build ships that would be solid enough that we would crawl, Stilson would explore. This took us 100 years being on the end of the 20th century. We started with airplanes, took us run about 200 years until it became, you know, democratize it. So we are at this point when we know we are going to know within easy case how to build spaceships that can be reused, becomes affordable and OK if it takes 100 years so that everyone here can buy a ticket and fly in space. You know, it has to start with some pioneers. So I think this vision of is shared by others where I feel we are perhaps very different. I'm aware that a business can. It's a to succeed. You need to get to implement your vision, you need, of course, to be with the best team you can ever have, etc.. You need also some luck right? This is this is, I think, true. And where you don't need lurk and where you have a responsibility, believe is to have your team thriving. So. We're doing everything we can to succeed, and for the time being, we've been very successful, actually. But I feel a very strong responsibility. That whatever happens, every people who have worked within the expression company, they can say, OK. It was a better job. I have a high in my life. It's super demanding, but it's two very worthy because as a person you discover capacities. You even need to know you had this capacity. And we make history at all. OK, level. But like we make history, what we're doing was never done in Europe. For some part of that was never done in the world. So you create. Meaning in the mind of these people and you cannot lose their talents. You obviously believe in what you're doing. Alan, how how big will the exploration just bringing our conversation to a to a close this evening. How big will the exploration company be in 10 years? Of course, you know, there are scenarios I have plenty of fun if you were a mathematician. Well, I'll say it's base case. They are. No, I think, you know, if we if we would if we'd be able to come up with a comprehensive system, we start with a capsule that, you know, down the road. There is also a necessity for thinking about launch in a different manner, of course, and reusing basically the brakes to have end to end, basically transportation system. So if we'd come up with that, something that would be highly affordable, that would be very open. We are the first of getting the world to really open source or interfaces It means like you can think about your hardware as a kind of space tool. So if we could be like the transportation system, one of the transportation system. But like the most open, the most sustainable enabling clients from everywhere to use. I would say hardware not only as a transportation, but also I could still literally like, OK, you have software to open kits, but like we would have hardware up and keep. So you can plug and you can use a hardware to unleash the imagination and build on it. Basically, I think, yeah, this would bring a lot to the space community. So I think we start with a capsule OK, starting with the capsule, it starts with sending postcards. Helene thank you very much. Thank you so much to Helene to be the co-founder at the exploration company.

Space Exploration at Turning Point: Huby

Helene Huby, co-founder and CEO of The Exploration Company, discusses the benefits of space exploration for science and humanity, the importance of a European presence in the sector, and being the only female CEO of a space company. She spoke to Bloomberg’s Anna Edwards at a New Voices event in Paris. (Source: Bloomberg)