Stoke Space Secures $1 Billion to Accelerate Fully Reusable Nova Rocket
The aerospace startup brings total funding to $2.3 billion as it targets a 2027 orbital debut for its Nova Pathfinder vehicle.
Stoke Space has closed an initial $1 billion tranche of its Series E financing round to accelerate the development of its fully reusable launch system. The infusion brings the company's total capital raised to $2.3 billion, providing the runway needed to move from testing to orbital operations.
The funding is earmarked for the first orbital launch of the Nova Pathfinder rocket, currently targeted for early 2027. This initial vehicle will carry a payload for AstroForge, an asteroid mining company that has signed an agreement for multiple dedicated launches. Following the Pathfinder, the company is developing the larger Nova Block 2 vehicle, which is slated for a 2029 debut with a capacity to deliver 15 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Scaling Infrastructure
To support this aggressive development timeline, Stoke Space is significantly expanding its physical footprint. The company is growing its test facility in Moses Lake, Washington, from 75 acres to 550 acres. Additionally, the firm is finalizing launch infrastructure at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where it is utilizing Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) for its upcoming missions.
Founded in 2019 by former Blue Origin executives Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman, Stoke Space is pursuing a strategy of full and rapid reusability for both rocket stages. This approach is designed to lower the cost floor of space transportation by eliminating the need to discard expensive hardware after every flight. "Every mature transportation system is built around fully reusable vehicles," said Andy Lapsa, co-founder and CEO of Stoke. "It’s the only way to reach the cost floor while scaling availability."
Market Implications
Stoke Space is positioning itself in the medium-lift spectrum, filling a perceived market gap for high-cadence, lower-cost orbital access. While SpaceX's Starship and Falcon 9 dominate the current landscape, Stoke's focus on a 3-to-15 ton LEO capacity targets specific needs for national security missions and emerging commercial industries like asteroid mining.
Clay Fisher, General Partner at Spark Capital, noted that full reusability is the "inevitable end state of the market," offering an order-of-magnitude advantage in cost and service over rockets that are only partially reusable. By targeting this specific lift class, Stoke aims to provide a more tailored and economical alternative for payloads that do not require the massive scale of a super-heavy lifter.
The Path to Orbit
As the company moves toward its 2027 goal, the industry will be watching the successful integration of its reusable stages and the operational readiness of LC-14. While the financial backing is now secure, the technical challenge remains the rapid turnaround of vehicles—a core tenet of the company's business model. The upcoming Nova Pathfinder mission will serve as the primary proof of concept for this vision.