Exotrail: Entrepreneurship in NewSpace
To mark World Space Week, October 4–10, CentraleSupélec is spotlighting Exotrail, a French NewSpace company co-founded by Nicolas Heitz, an alumnus of the MSc Entrepreneurs program at CentraleSupélec-ESSEC Business School.
Every year from October 4 to 10, World Space Week celebrates space science and technology. This year, the theme of this international week is “Rocket Revolution,” focusing on the evolution of access to space and the new technologies transforming the sector.
This week provides an opportunity to look back at the journey of Exotrail—a startup that has grown into a NewSpace industrial company—and at the entrepreneurial experience of its co-founder, Nicolas Heitz, an alumnus of the MSc EntrepreneursCentraleSupélec-ESSEC Business School.
Entrepreneurship in a Highly Technologically Demanding Sector
Founded in 2015, Exotrail develops space mobility solutions for satellites. Its activities include electric propulsion systems, software for mission preparation and operations, and in-orbit mobility and logistics services.
In particular, the company develops Hall-effect electric propulsion systems as well as spacevan™, an orbital transfer vehicle designed to transport satellites or payloads to their orbits.
Mobility has become a major challenge as the number of satellites in orbit increases. A satellite must be able to reach its operational position, change its orbit during its mission, or, eventually, be deorbited.
Exotrail is thus developing technologies and services designed to support these various stages of a satellite’s life cycle.
From Engineering to Space Entrepreneurship
Exotrail co-founder Nicolas Heitz came this year to share his journey as a NewSpace entrepreneur with students at CentraleSupélec as part of an “Ask Me Anything” workshop organized by 21st by CentraleSupélec.
During these discussions, he spoke in particular about Exotrail’s early days and the essential lesson in a sector as specialized as space: bringing together the right expertise and getting it to work together.
Nicolas Heitz also explained how Exotrail has gradually expanded its business. The company’s growth and its understanding of its customers’ needs have led it, in particular, toward in-orbit services, moving beyond its initial scope of operations.
This evolution illustrates one of the distinctive features of deep-tech entrepreneurship: building a company around a complex technology while gradually adapting the product to meet market needs and use cases.
Turning Technology into a Solution for Operators
The experience shared by Nicolas Heitz also highlights the importance of translating complex technology into tangible benefits for customers. In the case of Exotrail, it’s not just about showcasing the technical performance of a propulsion engine, but about demonstrating what this technology enables a satellite operator to do: reach a given orbit more quickly and begin operating its satellite sooner.
This approach, which combines technical expertise with an understanding of end-user needs, has guided Exotrail’s development since its earliest missions.
New Milestones for Space Mobility
Exotrail is currently continuing to expand its propulsion and in-orbit services.
In September, the company announced a partnership with Safran to develop a benchmark offering in electric propulsion.
A few days earlier, Exotrail had also announced its selection as part of the France 2030 “In-Orbit Services—Mobility” program to conduct, alongside Eutelsat and Astroscale France, a deorbiting demonstration mission. The mission, which is to be contracted by CNES, aims to demonstrate the deorbiting of an end-of-life Eutelsat OneWeb satellite between 2029 and 2030.
These developments are part of a broader evolution of Exotrail’s activities, as the company now focuses on in-orbit mobility and services—ranging from propulsion to deployment and end-of-life management of satellites.
An Alumni Journey at the Heart of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Nicolas Heitz is one of Exotrail’s four co-founders, alongside Jean-Luc Maria, Paul Lascombes, and David Henri.
Exotrail is now among the companies co-founded by CentraleSupélec alumni featured in the 2026 cohort of the French Tech Next40/120. The company is also listed in the French Tech 120, alongside Unseenlabs, Greenly, GitGuardian, and Resilience—all of which were also co-founded or are led by alumni of the School.
