Stoke Space Raises $1 Billion Series E to Develop Nova Pathfinder and Challenge SpaceX

Stoke Space Technologies raised $1 billion in a Series E funding round, completing an initial closing, as it seeks to challenge SpaceX in the low-cost rocket launch market with a fully reusable rocket where both the booster and second stage can return to Earth and be flown again.

“Stoke Space plans to build a larger vehicle for replenishing satellite constellations”

Reuters

CEO Andy Lapsa told Reuters that the latest infusion of cash will speed development of the Nova Pathfinder rocket, which Stoke plans to debut in 2027, and will also fund work on a larger rocket called Nova Block 2 that has been in development for over a year.R

Ars Technica

Reuters said the Series E round led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital values the company at roughly $10 billion, and that Stoke has now raised $2.3 billion since its 2020 founding.R

Stoke’s Nova Pathfinder is designed to lift 3 metric tons to low Earth orbit in a reusable version, while the expendable model can carry up to 7 metric tons, and Stoke expects the Block 2 rocket to lift up to 15 metric tons to low orbit in a fully reusable mode.

The company said it has conducted structural and operational tests on the rocket’s first stage at its facility in Moses Lake, Washington, with ground test-firings of both stages expected to follow before the rocket is prepared for flight.

Stoke said the Series E round is intended to scale its operations by expanding production capacity, increasing flight frequency, and funding the development of a larger second-generation rocket, with TechCrunch quoting Lapsa saying, "This round is really to scale."

TechCrunch also reported that Stoke is pursuing a rocket where both the booster stage and the payload-carrying second stage come back to Earth so they can be reused cheaply, describing it as "A rocket where both the booster stage and the payload-carrying second stage come back to Earth".

Asaase Radio

In Reuters’ account, the Pathfinder mission manifest is fully booked "for the next couple years," though Lapsa declined to provide a specific number of launches.

Reuters said Stoke plans to keep the smaller Pathfinder in service even after Block 2 debuts, with Pathfinder for dedicated satellite missions or batches of small satellites.R

For Block 2, Reuters said the larger rocket will use 14 of Stoke's Zenith engines, twice as many as Pathfinder, so it can carry more satellites at once, and it is expected to have its first launch in 2029.R

Stoke’s roadmap ties the funding to a stepwise approach, with the Nova Pathfinder designed to prove fully reusable technologies before the larger vehicle enters service, and Quartz en Français quoting Lapsa saying, "Nova Pathfinder is how we turn Nova’s promise into proven flight capability."

“"Nova Pathfinder is how we turn Nova’s promise into proven flight capability"”

Quartz en Français

Quartz en Français also said Nova Block 2 will deliver 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit within a 5-meter payload fairing, and that its first flight is planned for 2029.

In Ars Technica’s account, the initial version of Nova is planned to have a lift capacity of 3 metric tons in fully reusable mode and up to 7 tons in a fully expendable configuration, and it said the first stage is powered by seven Zenith engines with a combined thrust of 700,000 pounds.

Ars Technica reported that after structural tests earlier this summer on the first stage, Stoke will ship this stage "pretty soon" to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it will undergo a static fire test before being mated with the upper stage.

The same Ars Technica report said the upper stage will be shipped to Stoke’s test site at Moses Lake, Washington, for structural tests followed by a hot fire test, and then shipped to Florida, as Stoke accelerates toward its debut launch next year.