Stoke Space company profile: valuation, funding & revenue

This Stoke Space company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Stoke Space works in space, with a focus on reusable launch vehicles. It was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Kent, Washington, United States. Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.

Revenue

Funding history

Stoke Space timeline

Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.

• 2019 — Stoke Space is founded in Kent by Andy Lapsa (CEO) and Tom Feldman.
• Jan 2025 — Series C: US$260M.
• Oct 2025 — Series D: US$510M (plus US$100M debt facility). Investors: US Innovative Technology Fund (lead); Silicon Valley Bank (debt).
• Feb 2026 — Series D extension: Series D increased to US$860M.
• October 2025 — Total capital raised: About US$990 million after the Series D, plus a US$100 million debt facility.

Investors

Overview

Stoke Space is developing Nova, a rocket designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, meaning both its first stage and its upper stage return to Earth and fly again. Today's partially reusable rockets, led by SpaceX's Falcon 9, recover the first stage but discard the upper stage on every flight. Stoke's distinctive upper stage uses a ring of thrusters around a heat shield, letting it survive re-entry and land. If it works, full reusability could cut launch costs further and allow more frequent flights. In October 2025 Stoke raised US$510 million in a Series D, more than doubling its total capital raised to about US$990 million.

Andy Lapsa, the CEO, and Tom Feldman founded Stoke Space in 2019. Both previously worked at Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space company, on rocket engines and propulsion. The company is based in Kent, Washington, near Seattle, an area that has become a hub for space companies.

Products

• Nova: a medium-lift, fully reusable launch vehicle intended to carry satellites to orbit and return both stages.
• Reusable upper stage: a second stage with a regeneratively cooled heat shield and distributed thrusters, designed to re-enter and land.
• Engines: in-house engines, including the Zenith first-stage engine and the upper-stage propulsion system.
• Launch site: Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, which Stoke has been developing for Nova.

Funding

Stoke raised early funding from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures. It closed a US$260 million Series C in January 2025. In October 2025 it announced a US$510 million Series D led by Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund, alongside a US$100 million debt facility led by Silicon Valley Bank, bringing total capital raised to about US$990 million. Before the announcement, The Information reported that the round could value Stoke at nearly US$2 billion; because the company didn't confirm a valuation, we show it as not disclosed.

Business model

Stoke plans to sell launch services to satellite operators, constellation builders and government agencies. Reusability is central to its economics: if both stages can fly many times with minimal refurbishment, the cost per launch falls, allowing competitive pricing and higher margins. Like all launch startups, it must invest heavily before generating revenue.

Competition

Stoke competes with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and future Starship, Rocket Lab's Neutron, Blue Origin's New Glenn, Relativity Space's Terran R, Firefly and ULA, and internationally with Arianespace and European startups such as Isar Aerospace. Its distinctive bet is full reusability in the medium-lift class.

Stoke Space at a glance

Stoke Space is a Kent, Washington, launch company founded in 2019 by former Blue Origin engineers Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman. It is developing Nova, a fully reusable medium-lift rocket. It raised a US$510 million Series D in October 2025 led by the US Innovative Technology Fund, bringing total capital raised to about US$990 million; it has not disclosed a valuation.

Timeline

• 2019: founded.
• 2023: flies a test vehicle, Hopper2, demonstrating its upper-stage design.
• January 2025: raises a US$260 million Series C.
• October 2025: raises US$510 million Series D and a US$100 million debt facility.
• 2026: planned activation of its Cape Canaveral launch complex.

Why full reusability is hard

Recovering a first stage is difficult but manageable, because it separates at relatively low speed and altitude. An upper stage reaches orbital velocity and must survive the intense heat of re-entry, then slow down and land precisely. That requires a heat shield, extra fuel and systems for landing, all of which add mass and reduce how much payload the rocket can carry. SpaceX is pursuing full reusability with Starship, a much larger vehicle. Stoke's approach integrates the heat shield and engine system, aiming to make a smaller upper stage reusable. Proving it in flight is the company's central challenge.

Who will use Stoke Space

Stoke's target customers include satellite operators deploying constellations, government and defense agencies, and companies needing dedicated launches to specific orbits.

Valuation context

Stoke hasn't disclosed a valuation, so we don't include it in valuation-ranked tables. Its total funding of nearly US$1 billion places it among the best-funded launch startups.

Risks

• Technical risk: full reusability is unproven at this scale.
• Competition: SpaceX's prices and cadence set a high bar.
• Capital needs: launch development requires large ongoing investment.
• Schedule: first launches of new rockets are often delayed.

Questions for customers

• When will Nova make its first orbital flight?
• What payload capacity and price per launch are planned?
• How quickly can stages be reflown?

The launch market after Falcon 9

SpaceX's Falcon 9 dominates global launch, flying far more often than any other rocket and at prices that competitors struggle to match. Governments and companies want alternatives to avoid relying on a single supplier, and demand for launches is growing as constellations expand. This creates room for several new medium-lift rockets, including Rocket Lab's Neutron, Blue Origin's New Glenn and Stoke's Nova. Each takes a different technical approach. Stoke's bet is that full reusability, if it can be achieved, would give it a cost advantage and allow frequent launches from a small fleet. Defense customers, which value assured access to space from multiple providers, are an important potential market, and US national security launch programmes have created paths for new entrants to qualify over time.

For investors, launch remains one of the riskiest areas of space. Many launch startups have failed or struggled to reach orbit reliably. The companies that succeed tend to combine strong engineering, deep funding and patience, which is why Stoke's nearly US$1 billion in capital is significant.

Who funds Stoke

Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund, which led the Series D, focuses on technologies important to US competitiveness and national security, a signal that investors see reusable launch as strategic infrastructure.

Latest developments (October 2026)

Stoke Space extended its Series D to US$860 million in February 2026, taking total funding to about US$1.34 billion, according to the company. Payload later reported an initial US$1 billion tranche of a Series E co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, and said the first flight of its fully reusable Nova rocket has slipped from late 2026 to early 2027. See our space startups guide.

What to watch

Watch Nova's first launch, launch site activation, customer contracts and any disclosed valuation. Our guide to space startups covers the launch market.

Takeaways

Satellite operators may gain another reusable launch option. Founders can see how bold engineering bets attract large funding. Investors should note that its valuation hasn't been disclosed.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.

1. Business Wire (company press release)
2. Stoke Space
3. GeekWire