Stoke Space Seeks $1 Billion for Fully Reusable Rocket

Stoke Space Technologies Inc. is raising $1 billion to accelerate the development and production of its Nova rocket. The funding round, which the company intends to close this month, values the startup at approximately $9 billion excluding the new capital.

Founded in 2019 by former Blue Origin engineers, the company aims to surpass competitors like Relativity Space in both valuation and capability. The Nova rocket is designed for full reusability, distinguishing it from the partially reusable Falcon 9. To minimize refurbishment time between flights, the vehicle utilizes a specialized liquid-cooled heat shield to recover the entire rocket.

This latest effort follows a Series D round that ended in February, which raised $860 million. Total funding for the company now stands at $1.34 billion as it seeks to challenge the industry leadership of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. While Stoke Space develops its cooling technology, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has stated that the heat shield design for the Starship rocket has been "solved."