Benjamin Bangsund

Staff Software Engineer @ Stoke Space. Ex-Anduril, Ex-Prime Air, Ex-AWS, Opinions are my own.

[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]

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

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

Incredible work by our small but mighty team of structures engineers and fabricators. Can’t wait to see this thing go vertical!

[Vast @vast]

Vast has been selected by @NASASpaceOps for the sixth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Launching no earlier than summer 2027, the commercial crew will spend up to 14 days aboard the station. https://t.co/ZSm3WcwgnZ

[Ashlee Vance @ashleevance]

Went to see a commercial space station being built @vast, and it was quite glorious. Full episode coming on the YouTube channel soon

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Happy to announce an extension of our Series D financing round to $860M, adding $350M to the initial $510M raised in October 2025. This brings our total funds raised to $1.34B.

We're grateful to our investors and excited to bring our fully and rapidly reusable Nova rocket to market while accelerating future elements of the product roadmap.

Learn more: https://t.co/0AO9M1oGPV

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

📷 Our latest Zenith engine demonstrating fuel pump suction performance—testing the limits of our turbomachinery. So far, so good. 👍

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

BOOM! 💥 There it is, our flight termination system (FTS) in one of many tests to validate its performance and overall reliability for our Nova rocket program. (🔊 Sound on)

The FTS is a component of Nova's Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) that continuously monitors the vehicle’s trajectory against pre-defined safety limits and autonomously commands termination if needed.

[Andy Lapsa @AndyLapsa]

5 yrs since YC but feels like 20 (and also feels like yesterday). Fun retelling those earliest days but it's still day 1 for us and for space, and there's a LOT more to do!

[Benjamin Bangsund @babangsund]

@beaversteever "Stoke Space accidentally invents flying warehouses"

[Paul Graham @paulg]

"Andy never fails."

— me in an email to a YC partner about Andy Lapsa

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

@mmealling @rookisaacman We are going to build a Moon base

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Awesome

[Aaron Burnett @aaronburnett]

It’s exceedingly obvious in this video that everything Stoke is building is with the goal of being massively manufacturable and reusable. This is something you do not see outside of SpaceX. Andy and team saw the future that SpaceX laid out and ran with it a breakneck speed (with a few novel innovations focused on the medium lift market). Investors (like us) have seen this and taken the risk that this is the team and time. The future of space has never been brighter.

Take the time to watch over the holidays!

[Everyday Astronaut @Erdayastronaut]

NEW VIDEO and a VERY requested video! Enjoy a new tour of @stoke_space w/ CEO @AndyLapsa!!! There's so many juicy details in this video and of course, we witness another incredible Andromeda test! Enjoy! - https://t.co/WFYsWjybch

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Did you watch it yet? 👀 Check out the new @Erdayastronaut video about Stoke by Tim Dodd & his incredible team!

Spoiler alert: 🚨Flamey bit at the end when Tim tours our Moses Lake, WA test facility!

https://t.co/hF0QFBatHT

[øtherside🚀 @otherside_X42]

😭😭😭 what is that???
is that what I think it is @Erdayastronaut

[Booster 10 @booster_10]

Flight 1 Andromeda engine.

[Everyday Astronaut @Erdayastronaut]

- @stoke_space is perhaps one of the most exciting rocket companies and is one of only a few companies actually building hardware for a fully reusable rocket featuring a super unique aerospike-ish powered actively cooled upper stage, and they’re ALSO building the coveted full flow staged combustion cycle for their main engines on their reusable booster!

I caught up with their CEO @AndyLapsa who gave us a rundown on their incredible rocket called NOVA and we saw some new hardware that has the possibility to truly disrupt the rocket launch industry.

00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Hopper
04:50 - 3D Printing
06:20 - Zenith
12:00 - Avionics
16:37 - Heatshield
26:30 - First Mission
30:07 - Pumps
31:05 - Andromeda Manifold / Boltline
36:18 - Injectors / Engine Cell
37:40 - Tanks
46:00 - Zenith Bell
48:44 - Test Site
50:20 - Andromeda Engine
1:04:55 - Zenith
1:19:50 - Zenith Stand
1:21:58 - Andromeda Test
1:25:50 - Outro