Reusable rocket startup Stoke Space raises $510 million in latest funding round

By Prakhar Srivastava

(Reuters) -Stoke Space said on Wednesday it has raised $510 million in a funding round led by entrepreneur Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund, to speed up development of its Nova reusable launch vehicles.

The fundraise underscores rising investor demand for space transport firms as governments and private companies boost spending on satellite launches, defense missions and commercial exploration.

The round also drew backing from Washington Harbour Partners and General Innovation Capital Partners, and existing investors including 776, Breakthrough Energy, Glade Brook Capital and Toyota Ventures.

"Investors, especially those that may have missed out on SpaceX, are still very much in the mood for moonshots despite gravity, interest rates, and valuation," Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Running Point Capital Advisors.

"Stoke is building like it expects ... a future where sending cargo to orbit becomes as routine as shipping boxes through UPS or FedEx."

The Washington-based startup declined to provide the valuation at which it raised funds.

Earlier this year, Stoke was awarded a National Security Space Launch contract by the U.S. Space Force, joining Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Rocket Lab USA and United Launch Alliance and others, selected to strengthen U.S. space launch capabilities.

"There is room and maybe even a need for more than one successful player in this space race," said Schulman.

The award reflects the growing demand for medium-lift launch capacity for defense, including for the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system, the company said.

Stoke Space is developing the fully reusable Nova rocket for frequent, low-cost space launches, backed by funding from the U.S. Space Force, NASA and other partners.

(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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