Inside The Startup Building Reusable Rockets

Stoke Space's Mission for Fully Reusable Rockets00:01

The team at Stoke Space is building fully and rapidly reusable rockets with aircraft-like reusability. Currently, only the first stage of rockets can be reused. Stoke focuses on the entire rocket, including a stage 2 capsule that survives re-entry to Earth. This opens new opportunities in space.

I think if you have something that can go up and come back to the place where you want it to go when you want it to go, I think it is like the iPhone app store moment. People are going to come up with absolutely crazy ideas for how to take advantage of that.

Stoke Space Headquarters and Goals01:04

Andy and Tom invited a visit to headquarters in Kent, Washington, outside Seattle, a hub for space tech startups.

What are you building at Stoke Space? Building fully rapidly reusable rockets designed to go to space, through space, and back from space. Really to lower cost, improve availability, and improve reliability of access to space.

There are around 150 commercial space launches every year, a record but limited. Most are taken by Starlink, leaving little availability. Customers pay more for availability, but cost is a barrier to a ubiquitous, diverse space economy.

Rocket Designs: Nova and Andromeda01:32

Nova is a two-stage to orbit rocket. First stage punches out of atmosphere, restarts engines to land downrange or at launch site. It has one of the highest performing rocket engines in fuel efficiency ever produced, key for long life and rapid reusability.