Stoke Space
Stoke Space Technologies is an American space launch company based in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington.
History
The company was founded by a group of former Blue Origin and SpaceX employees. In May 2020, the company won a $225,000 SBIR Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation to work on an integrated propulsion solution for reusable rocket upper stages. In February 2021, the company raised $9.1 million in seed funding in a round led by venture funds NFX Guild and MaC Venture Capital. In December 2021, the company raised $65 million in a Series A round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, funding development and testing of the upper stage of a reusable launch vehicle.In 2022, the company created a prototype of their second stage engine ring. Their prototype had at least 22 static fires in total.
In 2023, Stoke Space had an interview with Tim Dodd, wherein the CEO Andy Lapsa revealed their plan to create a fully and rapidly reusable orbital rocket.
In the first months of 2023, Stoke Space finished the construction of Hopper1, a full-scale second stage prototype, intended to test fluid mechanics in the vehicle. On March 8, 2023, the company was given LC-14 in Florida as a future launch pad for their vehicles. On March 18, Stoke Space's second stage conducted a wet dress rehearsal, where the company loaded both liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the stage's tanks, preparing it for launch without igniting the engines.
On September 17, 2023, Stoke Space conducted a 10 meter "hop" test of "Hopper2", testing their unique differential steering method. In 15 seconds, the vehicle ignited its 15 thrust chambers, lifted 30 feet off the ground, showed its ability to steer without gimballing the engine like traditional rockets, and tested the actively cooled heat shield before successfully landing under three landing struts. In October 2023, Stoke Space announced a $100 million Series B funding round led by Industrious Ventures.
In April 2024, the company announced it had completed assembly and installation of a first stage engine for test firing. In May 2024, the company announced significant construction progress in their engine test firing stand. The first successful hot fire of Stoke Space's full flow staged combustion Engine, named Zenith, was reported in June 2024.