Stoke Space raises $1B Series E as its reusable rocket awaits first flight
What's the deal? Stoke Space has closed the initial tranche of a $1 billion Series E, bringing the reusable-rocket startup's total capital raised to $2.3 billion. Point72 VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Spark Capital co-led the round, joined by General InnovationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Glade Brook CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, US Innovation TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Washington Harbour PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Woven CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Y Combinator, and other new and existing investors.
What's the endgame? Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman founded the Kent, Washington company in 2019 after leaving Blue Origin. Its bet is a rocket in which both stages return and fly again — a harder problem than the partial reusability SpaceXDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has commercialised with Falcon 9. The cash funds Nova Pathfinder's first orbital launch, targeted for early 2027, plus expanded production and launch infrastructure.
A bigger rocket first: The round also funds Nova Block 2, disclosed this week — a larger vehicle designed to carry up to 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit in a five-metre fairing, targeting a 2029 debut. Committing to a second, larger vehicle before the first has flown is an unusual sequence.
Why now? Stoke has raised four times since January 2025: a $260 million Series C, a $510 million Series D extended to $860 million, and now the $1 billion Series E. Roughly $2.1 billion of its $2.3 billion total has arrived in that 20-month stretch.
What could go wrong? Nova has never left the ground. Three days before Stoke announced its raise, Germany's Isar Aerospace put its Spectrum rocket into orbit from Norway, the first private company to launch an orbital vehicle from continental European soil. Spectrum is expendable and far smaller than Nova — but it did something Stoke's rocket hasn't: it flew.
"Every mature transportation system is built around fully reusable vehicles. It's the only way to reach the cost floor while scaling availability," Lapsa said. Point72's Chris Morales said the company had shown "the exceptional technical progress and the ambition to build a launch system capable of serving the market at industrial scale."
The signal: Capital keeps flowing into space regardless of flight status. K2 Space raised $500 million at a $6.8 billion valuation in July; Impulse Space raised $500 million at $4.26 billion in June; True Anomaly raised $650 million at $2.2 billion in April. None of that money depends on an unproven reusable rocket reaching orbit. Stoke's does.
Read more: stokespace.com, Tech Funding News
Image credit: Stoke Space
