For a fully reusable rocket that could unlock truly low-cost access to space, the essential fuel isn't methane or liquid oxygen—it's capital. Stoke Space Technologies is loading up, having completed the initial closing of a $1 billion Series E round aimed at reaching orbit and scaling operations with a new, larger rocket.
“This round is really to scale,” CEO Andy Lapsa told TechCrunch. “To lay the infrastructure, to scale in production and flight frequency, and importantly to fund the development of the second generation vehicle.”
The round was led by Point72 Ventures—hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen's tech investment arm—and Spark Capital, with participation from General Innovation, Glade Brook Capital, US Innovation Technology, Washington Harbour Partners, Woven Capital, and Y Combinator, among others.
The Race to Fully Reusable Rockets
Stoke is among a handful of startups vying to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX in the low-cost launch market. SpaceX built its dominance on the Falcon 9, whose booster stage is reusable, and is now developing Starship, a massive fully reusable rocket. As of 2026, Starship has yet to achieve a fully successful orbital mission, though its test campaign has accelerated.
But unlike rivals such as Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, or Firefly Aerospace, Stoke is aiming directly at the ultimate prize: a rocket where both the booster and the payload-carrying second stage return to Earth for rapid reuse—a feat never yet accomplished.
Capital-Intensive Ambition
Such ambition requires substantial funding. SpaceX has invested well over $10 billion in Starship over the past decade, and the vehicle still hasn't reached orbit reliably, though its next flights may change that. Stoke's latest round brings its total raised to $2.3 billion, a significant war chest for a company that has yet to launch.
One of the hardest challenges in fully reusable rocketry is protecting the second stage from the extreme heat of atmospheric reentry. SpaceX has struggled to find the right materials and configurations for its heat shield. Stoke, by contrast, uses a unique active cooling system that circulates super-cooled liquid hydrogen through the vehicle's thermal shielding.
“We can flow excess coolant—more than we think we need in order to overcool the surface of the vehicle—and take a conservative stance from that perspective in early flights,” Lapsa explained, noting that the system has been extensively tested on the ground and will debut on the first flight.
Nova Pathfinder: Road to 2027
Lapsa expects Stoke's first vehicle, the Nova Pathfinder, to take flight in early 2027. In an industry known for delays, he expresses confidence in this timeline, citing a series of structural and operational tests on the rocket's first stage at the company's Moses Lake, Washington facility. The next step involves ground test-firing each stage to validate readiness for launch.
“The ground system is checked out to the extent that we can do it without the rocket, and the rocket's checked out to the extent that we can do it without the launch pad,” Lapsa said. “So the next step is to do them together.”
Pathfinder is designed to carry up to three metric tons to low-Earth orbit, which Lapsa believes will make it the largest debut vehicle of any U.S. rocket maker. The startup has already signed launch contracts, though he acknowledges that few rockets debut without delays or issues—simply reaching orbit would mark a significant milestone.
“We have multiple Pathfinder vehicles in production, and we have confidence that we will bring Pathfinder to market and…”
via TechCrunch