Stoke Space Targets Bigger Reusable Rocket After $1B Funding

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Stoke Space Expands Ambitions With Fresh Capital

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Stoke Space, a U.S. rocket launch startup, is preparing to scale up its launch capabilities with a larger fully reusable rocket focused on replenishing satellite constellations, following the close of a $1 billion funding round, CEO Andy Lapsa told Reuters.

The Series E financing, led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, values the company at roughly $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Since its founding in 2020, Stoke Space has raised a total of $2.3 billion.

Acceleration of Nova Pathfinder and Block 2 Programs

Lapsa said the new capital will accelerate ongoing development of the Nova Pathfinder rocket, which Stoke plans to introduce in 2027. The funding will also support work on a more powerful vehicle, Nova Block 2, a program that has been underway for more than a year, he added.

According to Lapsa, the Pathfinder mission manifest is fully committed “for the next couple years,” though he did not disclose how many launches that represents. He noted that Stoke is already in early talks with prospective customers for Nova Block 2, with its inaugural launch currently anticipated in 2029.

Rising Launch Demand and Reusability Strategy

Demand in the global launch market has increased as companies broaden their plans for services requiring larger numbers of satellites. Major players, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and firms in China, have pursued reusable rockets to cut the cost of reaching orbit by tens of millions of dollars compared with traditional expendable launchers.

Only a limited number of U.S. firms are developing fully reusable orbital systems. SpaceX is working on Starship as a fully reusable vehicle, while Rocket Lab’s coming Neutron rocket is designed to be mostly reusable.

Pathfinder as a Stepping Stone to Nova Block 2

Pathfinder, once the primary focus of Stoke’s launch strategy, is now positioned as a precursor to the larger Block 2. Lapsa said Block 2 will be powered by 14 of Stoke’s Zenith engines, twice the engine count of Pathfinder, enabling it to carry a larger number of satellites on a single mission – a feature seen as critical as constellation operators prepare to replace aging spacecraft.

“We have seen customers moving up in both size and quantity of their spacecraft, and that’s one of the big reasons to fully greenlight the Block 2,” Lapsa said.

Stoke intends to keep the smaller Pathfinder in operation even after Block 2 enters service, positioning Pathfinder for dedicated satellite flights or groups of small satellites.

Performance Profile: Pathfinder vs. Block 2

The reusable configuration of the Pathfinder rocket is designed to place 3 metric tons into low Earth orbit, while an expendable version is expected to carry up to 7 metric tons. That capacity is described as slightly higher than Firefly Aerospace’s expendable Alpha rocket and less than half the capability of SpaceX’s partially reusable Falcon 9.

By comparison, Stoke projects that Nova Block 2 will be capable of lifting up to 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit in fully reusable mode, or about 23 metric tons when flown expendably. That performance is described as nearly matching Falcon 9, which is currently the world’s most active launcher and is slated to be succeeded by SpaceX’s larger Starship system.