Congrats to @AndyLapsa, @Rkt_Da, and @stoke_space (W21) on their $1B Series E!

They’re building Nova, a rocket designed to be fully reusable, meaning both stages fly back and fly again.

Today’s rockets mostly reuse the booster and throw away the upper stage on every flight. Stoke’s upper stage returns too, protected by a novel heat shield ringed with 24 thrusters. Nova’s first orbital launch is targeted for early 2027, and a larger version carrying 15 metric tons to orbit is already in development.

Stoke Space Raises $1 Billion to Accelerate Fully Reusable Launch

Source: https://www.stokespace.com/news/stoke-space-series-e

Series E brings total capital raised to $2.3 billion as Stoke prepares Nova Pathfinder for first flight and unveils its larger, 15-ton-class Nova launch vehicle

**KENT, Wash., Sept. 8, 2026 —**Stoke Space Technologies, Inc. the rocket company developing fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicles, announced today that it has completed an initial closing of its billion-dollar Series E financing round. This funding brings Stoke’s total capital raised to $2.3 billion and will support the company as it prepares for its first orbital launch, expands production and launch capacity, and accelerates development of its larger Nova Block 2 launch vehicle.

The round was co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, with participation from General Innovation, Glade Brook Capital, US Innovation Technology, Washington Harbour Partners, Woven Capital, Y Combinator, and other new and existing investors.

“Stoke is pursuing what we see as one of the most important opportunities in space transportation: making launch fully reusable, reliable, and scalable,” said Chris Morales, Partner at Point72 Ventures. “Having supported Stoke through multiple stages of its growth, we believe this company has demonstrated both the exceptional technical progress and the ambition to build a launch system capable of serving the market at industrial scale. That progress has strengthened our conviction in the team. We are proud to support Stoke as it moves toward flight and high-cadence operations.”

“Every mature transportation system is built around fully reusable vehicles. It’s the only way to reach the cost floor while scaling availability. Space transportation will be no different,” said Andy Lapsa, co-founder and CEO of Stoke. “We are humbled by the trust our investors and customers have placed in us in pursuit of this critical generational challenge. This investment enables us to scale toward delivering the capability and cadence our customers require.”

The financing advances the development of Stoke’s core reuse technologies, alongside manufacturing, test, launch, and recovery infrastructure to support high-cadence operations. Stoke’s Nova Pathfinder vehicle is approaching its first flight. Pathfinder will carry payloads to orbit while proving Nova’s core architecture, full reuse technologies, and operational capabilities. Stoke is targeting early 2027 for the first orbital launch of Pathfinder.

Over the last several years, the launch market has been sending a clear and consistent signal demanding more capacity, greater availability, and flexibility to fly larger missions. Accordingly, the Series E funding also supports an expanded product roadmap. Stoke’s higher capacity Nova Block 2 vehicle is already under development and carries forward the architecture and technologies being proven on Pathfinder. Nova Block 2 delivers 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) in a 5-meter payload fairing. Its first launch is targeted for 2029, with production and flight cadence ramping quickly from there.

“Fullreusability is the inevitable end state of the market, providing an order-of-magnitude cost and service advantage over partially reusable rockets,” said Clay Fisher, General Partner at Spark Capital. “Stoke had the right thesis seven years ago and has paired that prescient vision with a blistering pace of execution. As a result, they stand uniquely positioned to give customers more choice and capacity when they need it, and to unlock an enormous new economy in space.

For a deeper look at the vehicle architecture and development strategy, seeStoke’s roadmap from Nova Pathfinder to Nova.

“Nova Pathfinder is how we turn the promise of Nova into flight-proven capability,” Lapsa said. “Pathfinder allows us to learn quickly, reduce risk, and prove the hardest parts of a fully reusable architecture in flight. Nova Block 2 scales those lessons into the capacity and cadence our customers are asking for. This investment allows us to move with urgency on both and brings us closer to delivering payloads to any orbit at any time.”

About Stoke

Stoke is building fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicles designed to provide reliable, on-demand transportation to, through, and from space. Its vehicles are designed for rapid turnaround and high-frequency operation, dramatically lowering the cost of access while expanding the range of missions that launch systems can serve. Stoke’s technology development has been supported by NASA, the U.S. Space Force, the Defense Innovation Unit, the National Science Foundation, and other commercial and government partners.