Max-Q was recently able to interview Stoke Space’s VP of Business Development, Devon Papandrew, which was an absolutely wonderful experience for the team. We were able to get some valuable information regarding the practices at the company, their various projects and developments, and even what the future may hold for the company as well as they continue to build out their aerospace company. This article will be more so a companion guide to the interview on the podcast, giving some background and extra information to those who may not be completely familiar with the company and what they do.

What is Stoke Space?

Stoke Space, in regards to the company, is actually a newcomer to the field of Aerospace. Founded in 2019 by Andrew Lapsa and Thomas Feldman, the company has been a fast riser in this second wave of aerospace companies, providing a low-cost launch vehicle operated from Moses Lake, but based in Kent, Washington. While the company may be relatively new, the employees are certainly far from it; the founders, Lapsa and Feldman, were both former Blue Origin Employees and a majority of the members in the company are from Blue Origin or SpaceX. This gives the team a sort of “head start” compared to other relatively newer rocket companies coming online in that they had an experienced group dynamic, who have worked on previous, larger scale rocket companies, coming together to create a brand-new vehicle, thereby further increasing the access to space for more people and organizations.

Stoke Space’s Unique Technologies

So, what makes Stoke’s approach to aerospace engineering unique, compared to other companies working on lowering the cost to orbit? This lies in a revolutionary technology founded on the principle of one hundred percent reusability. This is a radical change to the formula of a rocket launch, giving a chance for not just the booster to be recovered and reused, but also the second stage. The typical cadence of a flight ends with either the booster falling back to the Earth to either be expended or recovered and refurbished for another flight. We have seen the various ways companies have done these processes, such as with SpaceX’s F9 and Blue Origin’s propulsive landings, as well as with companies like Rocket Lab working on ocean recovery and previously helicopter “booster catches”. Stoke is going the way of SpaceX and Blue Origin in their recovery options, looking towards a more propulsively landing option. However, the company is not limiting just their booster to propulsively land, but also their second stage. A typical aerospace company expends the second stage, which ends up flying in a decaying orbit to eventually burn in the atmosphere, costing the companies quite a bit of money for every launch. Recovery of this second stage is a crucial step in further lowering the cost for space and Stoke plans on doing so by propulsively landing the second stage as well.

Final Remarks

How does Stoke plan on recovering the second stage? What are some other engine technologies they are utilizing? There is a lot of information to cover, which will be in the podcast, so I can’t recommend enough that you go ahead and check it out. A massive thank you to Stoke Space and Devon Papandrew for taking time out of their day and coming to talk with us; it was a very rewarding conversation, and we learnt a whole lot about the company and what they are doing. Now, go ahead and check out the interview on the Max-Q Podcast!

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