What is Stoke Space?
Reusable rocket startup building Nova, a fully reusable launch vehicle with reusable first and second stages.
- Category
- Fully reusable launch vehicles
- Headquarters
- Kent, WA
- Founded
- 2020
- Employees
- 125+
- Total funding
- ~$175M disclosed
- Valuation
- Private; valuation not disclosed
What is Stoke Space?
Stoke Space is a fully reusable launch vehicles company founded in 2020 and headquartered in Kent, WA.
Stoke Space is a fully reusable launch vehicles company founded in 2020 and headquartered in Kent, WA. Reusable rocket startup building Nova, a fully reusable launch vehicle with reusable first and second stages. Public revenue is not disclosed; the best scale signals are 125+ employees, ~$175M disclosed in disclosed funding or financing, and named strategic customers, investors, or project partners.
The company operates in a market where buyers care about technical proof, safety, regulatory execution, deployment reliability, and bankable unit economics. Its product surface includes Nova launch vehicle, Zenith full-flow staged-combustion engine, Andromeda upper-stage engine, Reusable second-stage heat shield, with commercialization tied to long sales cycles and real-world deployment milestones.
For sellers, Stoke Space should be treated as a sophisticated technical buyer rather than a conventional SaaS account. Engineering and operations leaders shape architecture, finance and legal shape contract structure, and executives usually become involved when the purchase touches strategic capacity, manufacturing, safety, or regulated deployment.
What does Stoke Space offer?
Stoke Space's product set centers on Nova launch vehicle, Zenith full-flow staged-combustion engine, Andromeda upper-stage engine.
- Nova launch vehicle· Launch vehicle
- Zenith full-flow staged-combustion engine· Booster propulsion
- Andromeda upper-stage engine· Upper-stage propulsion
- Reusable second-stage heat shield· Reusability
- Launch Complex 14· Launch site
- Moses Lake test site· Testing
How does Stoke Space make money?
Stoke is pre-commercial and will sell launch services once Nova is operational, with reusability intended to reduce marginal launch cost and increase cadence.
Stoke is pre-commercial and will sell launch services once Nova is operational, with reusability intended to reduce marginal launch cost and increase cadence. The company does not publish simple self-serve pricing because contracts are tied to deployment scope, physical capacity, engineering services, risk allocation, and long-term operating obligations.
Launch pricing is not public; contracts will be negotiated by payload, orbit, integration, mission assurance, launch cadence, and reuse risk. Growth is driven by converting technical proof into repeatable commercial deployments, then expanding with customers or partners that can absorb larger volumes, additional sites, or more mission-critical workloads.
Unit economics depend less on seat expansion and more on utilization, manufacturing yield, project execution, contract duration, and the cost of capital. As Stoke Space scales, procurement becomes more formal: vendors should be ready for safety, security, quality, compliance, and finance reviews before broad rollout.
Who leads Stoke Space?
Stoke Space is led by Andy Lapsa, with technical, commercial, and operating leadership built around fully reusable launch vehicles.
- Andy LapsaCo-founder & CEOCo-founder since 2020Former Blue Origin BE-4 leader; drives Nova architecture and funding.
- Tom FeldmanCo-founder & CTOCo-founder since 2020Former Blue Origin propulsion engineer and technical leader.
- Devon PapandrewVice President / launch and operations leaderExecutive leadershipSupports launch-site and vehicle operations execution.
- Bill Gates / Breakthrough Energy VenturesMajor investor representativeSeries A lead investorBacks fully reusable launch as strategic climate/space infrastructure.
How do you contact Stoke Space's leadership?
Use published company channels first. Personal addresses below are format-following examples using stokespace.com; verify before outreach unless the address is a role inbox listed as published.
first.last@stokespace.com (format-following example; verify before outreach)How much funding has Stoke Space raised?
Stoke Space has ~$175M disclosed; latest disclosed valuation/status is Private; valuation not disclosed.
Stoke Space's disclosed financing history is concentrated in these major public events: May 2020: NSF SBIR Phase I - $225K; Feb 2021: Seed - $9.1M; Dec 2021: Series A - $65M; Oct 2023: Series B - $100M. The latest disclosed valuation or status is Private; valuation not disclosed, and the company has not disclosed full revenue or profitability.
May 2020: NSF SBIR Phase I - $225K. Non-dilutive support for reusable upper-stage propulsion work. Feb 2021: Seed - $9.1M. Led by NFX and MaC Venture Capital. Dec 2021: Series A - $65M. Led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures to develop reusable launch vehicle systems. Oct 2023: Series B - $100M. Led by Industrious Ventures to accelerate Nova development.
The funding signal matters because this is a capital-intensive fully reusable launch vehicles company. Large rounds typically fund facilities, hardware, qualification, regulatory work, safety systems, and commercial teams, so sellers should expect formal technical review, finance scrutiny, security or compliance review, and multi-stakeholder procurement.
How did Stoke Space get here?
Stoke Space's path runs from its 2020 founding through financing, technical proof, and commercial deployment milestones.
- 2020Company foundedFormer Blue Origin and SpaceX engineers start Stoke in Washington.
- Dec 2021Series A raisedBreakthrough Energy leads $65M for reusable rocket development.
- Mar 2023Launch Complex 14 allocationU.S. Space Force allocates historic Cape Canaveral LC-14 to Stoke and others.
- Sep 2023Reusable upper-stage hopper testStoke completes a vertical hop of its second-stage demonstrator.
- Jun 2024Zenith hot-fireStoke completes the first successful hot-fire of its full-flow staged-combustion booster engine.
- Jul 2025Nova launch plan updatedStoke says first Nova launch is targeted for early 2026 with reuse tests to follow.
Who are Stoke Space's competitors?
Stoke Space competes with specialized startups and incumbents adjacent to fully reusable launch vehicles.
- SpaceXOperational full-reuse benchmark with Starship in development and Falcon reuse in production.
- Rocket LabNeutron reusable medium-lift competitor.
- Relativity SpaceTerran R partially reusable methane launch vehicle.
- Blue OriginNew Glenn reusable booster and heavy-lift launch competitor.
- Firefly AerospaceLaunch and responsive-space competitor.
Stoke Space — frequently asked questions
