The company’s prototype vehicle “Hopper2” flies during a low-altitude launch and landing demonstration on Sept. 17, 2023 in Moses Lake, Washington.
Stoke Space
Washington-based startup Stoke Space has secured $100 million in new funding in its pursuit to develop a fully reusable rocket called “Nova.”
The latest investment round for Stoke was led by Industrious Ventures, with Steve Angel, chairman of chemicals giant Linde, joining the Stoke board of directors. Other investors in the round include the University of Michigan, Sparta Group, Long Journey, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, YCombinator, Point72 Ventures, NFX, MaC Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and In-Q-Tel.
Founded in 2019, Stoke has previously raised $75 million in funding. The company declined to disclose its post-money valuation.
“The priority is to continue developing and get to the market as soon as possible to strengthen the still-fragile commercial space economy,” said Stoke co-founder and CEO Andy Lapsa.
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Stoke’s new funding follows the recent successful low-altitude launch of its prototype vehicle “Hopper2.”
While several U.S. companies are competing with SpaceX to develop reusable rockets, Stoke is taking a unique approach. The company has been focusing on developing and testing the second stage of the rocket before the first stage.
“The technology solution wasn’t available yet, and we wanted to understand what that would look like to build the right first stage,” explained Lapsa.
Stoke is developing the Nova rocket to be a “medium” class rocket that can deliver 5,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
An artist’s rendering of the “Nova” rocket design.
Stoke Space
Stoke currently has 95 employees and facilities in Kent and Moses Lake, Washington.
The company has been assigned a launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida by Space Force, which Stoke is in the process of developing.
“We’re positioning ourselves to provide the best value to the satellite industry, shortening the time from factory to revenue,” said Lapsa.
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