Andy Lapsa

CEO/Co-Founder @stoke_space - Husband/dad/engineer building 100% reusable rockets

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Pc and MR sweeps. So pretty.

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Receipt🧾

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

The space economy scales exactly as fast as rockets leave the ground. Let's build.

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

We're excited to announce that Stoke has been granted Right of Entry (RoE) from Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45) to the property just north of our existing SLC-14 launch site.

This expansion will enable the construction of a second launch site to support high-cadence launch and re-entry operations for our Nova  launch vehicle. The RoE is the first step to opening more of the Eastern Range to fully and rapidly reusable launch, and we're grateful to SLD 45 for their support.

Read the full press release here. https://t.co/gb1Bcr4onE

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

ATP never looked so good 😍

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Happy Hot Fire Halloween! 🔥 Stay safe out there, guys & ghouls. 🧛👻🎃

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

If you give @NASAAdmin an engine, he's going to climb in it. This is a new @NASA under @rookisaacman, and I'm here for it! 🇺🇸

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Thanks to @NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman and his team for visiting our Moses Lake Test Site recently! Great to show off hot fires of both our Andromeda and Zenith engines as they complete their qualification campaigns.

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Thanks @itsmoislam for coming out and doing this. The space economy can only scale as fast as rockets can leave the pad, and full and rapid reuse is the only way to unchoke the bottleneck!

[Mo Islam @itsmoislam]

EXCLUSIVE: @AndyLapsa, CEO of @stoke_space, joins VALLEY OF DEPTH for his first sit-down since the company's $1B raise and the unveiling of its new 15T to LEO Nova Block 2 launch vehicle.

Stoke is a launch company building Nova, a two-stage rocket designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, with an upper stage that uses a hydrogen-cooled metallic heat shield and a first stage powered by a full-flow staged combustion engine called Zenith.

Highlights:
01:04 – New developments at Stoke
02:16 – The Nova product family
08:19 – Meeting with Jared Isaacman
09:48 – $1B fundraise, use of proceeds
12:12 – Future production capacity
13:44 – Was this the last private funding round for Stoke?
23:46 – Why are rockets still so hard?
26:17 – Why build a full-flow staged combustion for your first stage?
29:14 – Technical hurdles that are left to solve
35:05 – Stoke's heat shield vs ceramic heat shields
39:51 – The state of the launch industry. Are we screwed in the short term?
49:00 – A payload agnostic future
51:36 – The application layer for Block 2
1:01:20 – What keeps Andy up at night?
1:02:29 – What happens after mission success?
1:06:31 – When should we expect the first flight of Block 2?

Full episode 👇

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@DrChrisCombs exactly

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@SciGuySpace hold that thought. it's not supernova yet ;)

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

It's nice, also, to have Block 2 funded. The new investment is also an enormous responsibility, which we take very seriously. We'll keep cooking, and we'll keep doing it our own special way.

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

We remain fully committed to building and flying Nova Pathfinder, which has already taught us an enormous amount about full and rapid reuse, and now we get to unveil Block 2:
https://t.co/eSBgkD7vCs

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Hell yeah - SUCH an honor to fire both our engines for @rookisaacman and the NASA team!

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

Always good to get out of DC and into the field where the action is happening.

From @Livermore_Lab to United Precision, @Boeing, @_Rocketdyne, and @stoke_space, we spent the last few days with the scientists, engineers, and technicians putting some of America’s most ambitious missions into motion.

We saw incredible science, aerospace manufacturing, propulsion hardware for ESM, Orion, and SR-1, and wrapped it up with live Zenith and Andromeda tests at Stoke’s test site, which were extremely impressive.

We have an enthusiastic and engaged President @POTUS who has given us the policy, the resources, and even a new Space Academy. We have bipartisan support from Congress, the talent of the NASA workforce, the best of industry, and a playbook that changed the world in 1969 and will do so again.

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@billythalheimer @regentcraft YESSSS this is awesome! Great work!

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@billythalheimer @regentcraft @LCSelby Hell yeah! love this!

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

This is the right framing. @Rkt_Da and I wouldn't have gone through with @stoke_space if we couldn't turn the re-entry problem into an engineering challenge instead of a science problem. That's all we did for the first year. imo it's an important qualifier for any company raising venture capital.

[Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer) @DrChrisCombs]

Several comments asking me about Stoke Space

What they are doing (regeneratively-cooled metallic heat shield using LH2) is pretty neat and has promise.

I talk sometimes about how what SpaceX did with Falcon 9 was more of an "engineering problem" (taking proven mid-TRL technology and making it work on a real system) than the issues with Starship's heat shield that I see as more of a "physics problem" (depending on your definition of "rapid" reuse).

Engineering problems can be solved with iterative design and brute force. Physics problems need true advances in science and technology.

All that to say, IMO what Stoke is trying to solve is an engineering problem. With the right people, enough money, and enough time, I think it will work. Anytime your design relies this heavily on hydrogen you're inviting some (incredibly small) demons to the party, but alas, not my problem.

I'd love more details on their ground testing at "higher heat loads" than what is experienced in flight. But last I heard they're targeting a launch test late this year? Looking forward to finding out...

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Great to host NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya at our HQ last week, just in time to see the aft module fit up to stage 1!🚀🚀

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@jukenthebox7 *Z*enith *E*ngine 12, spoken by an Irishman

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

omg if this isn't an amazing picture idk what is

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Leak shroud testing – the six-sided metal enclosure around the nozzle is designed to simulate the engine bay of the integrated rocket to identify any fuel or oxidizer leaks during a full mission duty cycle burn.

This is a key test to help retire risk for stage static fire and flight.🚀

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

@ScottRheeder @stoke_space @Rkt_Da When it’s ready :) We’re working hard and want it as much as anyone!

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Super proud of the team for this one. BIG step!

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Big tank. Big tests. Big milestone.

Nova Stage 1 proto-qualification is complete.
46 structural objectives verified, plus key fluid systems, avionics, software, ground systems, and ops demos. (More detail in our linked blog post.)

This is where new rockets often find the hard stuff; Nova (and the Stoke team) handled it. Our local partners at the @PORTOFMOSESLAKE , the Grant County Sheriff's Office and Public Works department, plus our vendor Norco made sure we had the support we needed every step of the way.

Ad Astra.✨

https://t.co/TFKfrM2n2B

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Engines racking up time on both test cells. Vehicle turned on and about to start testing...things are happening!

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Testing is LIVE in Moses Lake, for both our Stage 1 structure and Zenith engines. Proud of the teams who are working relentlessly to drive us forward on the road to launch.🛣️🚀

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

From factory floor to installed on stand in less than 18 hours - not bad for SN1!

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Our Stage 1 structure is now shipped, delivered, and ready for testing in Moses Lake, WA. Standing in its full vertical orientation, this flight hardware will be thoroughly vetted before returning to Kent for some final touches before the journey to Cape Canaveral, FL begins.

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Hey that's a neat truck