The archive · Space, Robots, Defence · Technical decision · 2019–2026
Stoke's fully-reusable Nova bet: $1.34B raised, debut targeted for end-2026
Kent-based Stoke Space builds Nova, a fully reusable rocket with a liquid-cooled second stage; it has raised $1.34B and Bloomberg reports a ~$1B round at ~$9B.
Stoke Space
What the business is
Stoke Space is a Kent, Washington launch startup developing Nova, a fully reusable medium-lift rocket (about 3,000 kg to low Earth orbit reusable, 7,000 kg expendable) whose second stage uses an actively cooled metallic heat shield; it also sells Boltline, an engineering and manufacturing software product.
Starting capital：January 2025 Series C of $260M; October 2025 Series D of $510M led by USIT with existing investors including 776, Breakthrough Energy, Glade Brook Capital, NFX and Toyota Ventures, bringing total capital to $990M (Satellite Today); the extended Series D closed at $860M in February 2026, with $1.34B raised to date (Bloomberg); Bloomberg reported in August 2026 that Stoke was raising about $1B at a roughly $9B valuation.
How it started
Stoke Space was founded in 2019 in Kent, Washington by former Blue Origin engineers (Bloomberg), with co-founder and CEO Andy Lapsa arguing the prize was full reusability: a rocket that recovers the entire vehicle, not just the booster. Nova is sized between Rocket Lab's Electron and Falcon 9 — a medium-lift gap Stoke says is underserved — and in March 2025 the US Space Force added the company to NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1, letting it compete for national security launches once demonstrated and certified (Satellite Today).
What happened
By October 2025 Stoke had raised $990M across a $260M Series C (January 2025) and a $510M Series D led by Thomas Tull's USIT, after completing mission duty cycle testing on both stages' flight-like engines. In February 2026 the Series D extension closed at $860M, taking total funding to $1.34B. In June 2026 Stoke completed Nova Stage 1 proto-qualification: 46 structural test objectives at its Moses Lake, Washington site (Raptor Group), with the debut targeted for late 2026 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, which the company refurbished in about a year.
How it ended up
As of 2026-09-02 Nova has not flown. Bloomberg reported (2026-08-12) that Stoke was raising about $1B at a ~$9B valuation to fund development and production, and the first launch is still targeted for the end of 2026 — a flight that would make Stoke the closest thing to a fully reusable launcher after SpaceX, whose Starship has yet to recover an entire vehicle intact.
Background
Stoke Space, founded in Kent, Washington in 2019 by former Blue Origin engineers, is betting that launch costs fall only when the entire rocket returns. Its Nova vehicle pairs a recoverable first stage with a second stage that uses an actively cooled metallic heat shield and 24 small thrust chambers — an architecture that eliminates the ceramic tiles whose maintenance burden made the Space Shuttle costly, so after a flight nothing is thrown away except propellant (Raptor Group).
The hardware progressed through 2025–2026: a $260M Series C in January 2025, then a $510M Series D in October 2025 led by Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund that took total funding to $990M (Satellite Today). In March 2025 the US Space Force added Stoke to its NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1, letting it compete for national security launches. In February 2026 the Series D extension closed at $860M, with Stoke reporting $1.34B raised to date.
In June 2026 Stoke completed proto-qualification of Nova's first stage, verifying 46 structural test objectives at its Moses Lake, Washington site, from pressurized tank loading to avionics in extreme conditions (Raptor Group). The 27.1-meter first stage runs seven Zenith methalox engines producing 3,110 kN of liftoff thrust, and Nova carries about 3,000 kg to low Earth orbit in reusable mode — up to 7,000 kg expendable (Satellite Today).
Bloomberg reported in August 2026 that Stoke was raising roughly $1 billion at a valuation around $9 billion, with the debut launch still targeted for the end of 2026 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral. No fully reusable rocket has yet flown; Stoke's case is that its engineering choices will get a whole vehicle back — the milestone SpaceX's Starship program is still chasing.
What has to be true
- Falcon 9 proved reuse cuts cost but still throws away the second stage; recovering the whole vehicle is where the next step-change in launch economics sits.
- The heat shield is the critical unsolved part of full reuse, and replacing fragile ceramic tiles with an actively cooled metal design attacks the Shuttle-era maintenance problem directly.
- Medium lift is an underserved slot between Electron and Falcon 9, and NSSL Lane 1 access plus contracted commercial launches gave Stoke demand before its first flight.
- The $1.34B raised by February 2026 let Stoke fund real hardware — mission duty-cycle tests and 46 structural verifications — rather than a paper rocket.
What can be applied
Treat the part everyone throws away as the product: Stoke's actively cooled metal second stage replaces fragile tiles, turning full reuse into an engineering schedule rather than a slogan.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02 Stoke remains pre-launch: Bloomberg reported on 2026-08-12 that it was raising about $1B at a roughly $9B valuation, after the extended Series D closed at $860M in February 2026 ($1.34B raised to date). Nova's first flight is targeted for end-2026 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral; the first mission will not attempt a first-stage landing, with recovery demonstrations to follow (Raptor Group). Stoke also sells Boltline engineering software and holds NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 access pending demonstration and certification (Satellite Today).
Sources
- Stoke Space Says $510M Round Will Fund Nova Rocket Through First Flights
- Stoke Space clears 46 structural tests on Nova rocket ahead of late-2026 debut
- Stoke Space Is Raising $1 Billion to Fund Flagship Nova Rocket
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