"The infusion of money will provide the company with "the runway to complete development" of the Nova rocket and demonstrate its capability through its first flights, said Andy Lapsa, the company's co-founder and chief executive, in a news release characterizing the new funding. Stoke is working toward a 2026 launch of the medium-lift Nova rocket. The rocket's innovative design is intended to be fully reusable from the payload fairing on down, with a regeneratively cooled heat shield on the vehicle's second stage."
"The latter was founded in 2016 with the promise of 3D-printing a rocket nearly in its entirety. In November 2020, Relativity disclosed its own Series D funding, $500 million. At the time, the company had about 230 employees and was planning a launch the following year. Instead of lifting off in 2021, however, Relativity's Terran 1 rocket would not launch for the first time until 2023, and since that time, the company has not flown again."
Stoke Space completed a $510 million Series D funding round, bringing total capital raised to $990 million. The financing will provide runway to complete development of the Nova rocket and to demonstrate its capability through initial flights. Stoke targets a 2026 launch for the medium-lift Nova. The vehicle is designed for full reusability from the payload fairing down and incorporates a regeneratively cooled heat shield on the second stage. Nova can carry 3 metric tons to low-Earth orbit in fully reusable mode and up to 7 tons in expendable mode. Stoke has about 280 employees and the announcement prompts comparisons to Relativity Space's earlier fundraising and program shifts.
Read at Ars Technica
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