Stoke Space

Everyday Astronaut

@Erdayastronaut

- @stoke_space is perhaps one of the most exciting rocket companies and is one of only a few companies actually building hardware for a fully reusable rocket featuring a super unique aerospike-ish powered actively cooled upper stage, and they’re ALSO building the coveted full flow staged combustion cycle for their main engines on their reusable booster! I caught up with their CEO @AndyLapsa who gave us a rundown on their incredible rocket called NOVA and we saw some new hardware that has the possibility to truly disrupt the rocket launch industry. 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Hopper 04:50 - 3D Printing 06:20 - Zenith 12:00 - Avionics 16:37 - Heatshield 26:30 - First Mission 30:07 - Pumps 31:05 - Andromeda Manifold / Boltline 36:18 - Injectors / Engine Cell 37:40 - Tanks 46:00 - Zenith Bell 48:44 - Test Site 50:20 - Andromeda Engine 1:04:55 - Zenith 1:19:50 - Zenith Stand 1:21:58 - Andromeda Test 1:25:50 - Outro

Eric Berger

@SciGuySpace

A lot of launch vehicle companies are trying, it's just *really* difficult to land and reuse an orbital first stage. Among those working on it: Blue Origin Rocket Lab Stoke Space Firefly Relativity MaiaSpace Space Pioneer LandSpace iSpace Galactic Energy Deep Blue Orienspace

Katie Miller

@KatieMiller

Sam Altman put his own money into Stoke Space — and tried to get OpenAI to buy or control the company too. Sam wanted Stoke to launch AI compute into orbit to directly copy @elonmusk. Stoke is unable to do so.

Ashlee Vance

@ashleevance

We're now starting the third inning of commercial rockets. The first inning had a lot of false starts The second inning was dominated by SpaceX I suspect the third inning will be dominated by SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Blue Origin and China. Stoke Space and Relativity with Schmidt's backing will be interesting to watch. But this inning will be about many more available rides to LEO and beyond and cheaper mass to space. I suspect this will be the industrial era of LEO and beyond.

Kevin Weil 🇺🇸

@kevinweil

Super excited to be joining the @stoke_space board! 🚀 I've known Andy since their seed round (thx @beller). Every month, like clockwork, he'd send an investor update with an impressive-looking bullet list of what they were going to get done that month. At the end of the month, the next update would show each of those bullets crossed out done—rarely they might miss one, and it would come with an ETA—and a list of what they'd get done the next month. Like clockwork, month after month after month. Andy, Tom, and the team are machines and it's been so impressive to watch them execute. Space is critical to the future of humanity. I loved my time at @planet, I've watched @SpaceX in awe, and we should all be excited by how vibrant today's space ecosystem is. We need far more access to space than we have today. We need full reusability, which Stoke has been single-mindedly focused on since the start. And much more beyond this. Can't wait to help accelerate the @stoke_space mission any way I can!

Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer)

@DrChrisCombs

Several comments asking me about Stoke Space What they are doing (regeneratively-cooled metallic heat shield using LH2) is pretty neat and has promise. I talk sometimes about how what SpaceX did with Falcon 9 was more of an "engineering problem" (taking proven mid-TRL technology and making it work on a real system) than the issues with Starship's heat shield that I see as more of a "physics problem" (depending on your definition of "rapid" reuse). Engineering problems can be solved with iterative design and brute force. Physics problems need true advances in science and technology. All that to say, IMO what Stoke is trying to solve is an engineering problem. With the right people, enough money, and enough time, I think it will work. Anytime your design relies this heavily on hydrogen you're inviting some (incredibly small) demons to the party, but alas, not my problem. I'd love more details on their ground testing at "higher heat loads" than what is experienced in flight. But last I heard they're targeting a launch test late this year? Looking forward to finding out...

Andy Lapsa

Co-founder & CEO

Former Blue Origin propulsion engineer who co-founded Stoke Space in 2019.

Tom Feldman

Co-founder & CTO

Former Blue Origin engineer who co-founded Stoke Space to build fully reusable rockets.