{"id":17446,"date":"2021-12-15T23:06:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T15:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-leads-65m-funding-round-for-stoke-spaces-reusable-rockets\/"},"modified":"2021-12-15T23:06:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T15:06:59","slug":"bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-leads-65m-funding-round-for-stoke-spaces-reusable-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-leads-65m-funding-round-for-stoke-spaces-reusable-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates\u2019 Breakthrough Energy leads $65M funding round for Stoke Space\u2019s reusable rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-661946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211214-stoke.jpg 1570w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>Stoke Space puts its \u201cthree-pack\u201d of thrust chambers through a hot-fire test. (Stoke Space Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the multibillion-dollar clean-tech initiative created by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is leading a $65 million funding round to back Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space\u2019s effort to create a new breed of fully reusable rockets \u2014 and believe it or not, there\u2019s a climate change angle. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no better way to see the Earth and the severity of its climate challenges than looking at the entire globe from space,\u201d Carmichael Roberts, co-leader of Breakthrough Energy Ventures\u2019 investment committee, said today in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImagine being able to detect wildfires in any country within minutes, identifying oil and gas methane emissions in real time for remediation, or verifying carbon stocks globally to enable large-scale carbon offset markets,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThese are just a few of the far-reaching opportunities that greater access to space can provide through advanced satellite technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts said rocket reusability could overcome two of the barriers to such applications. \u201cStoke\u2019s unique vehicle design and operational capabilities provide a path to achieving ultra-low-cost, fast-turnaround launch for dedicated orbital delivery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket business isn\u2019t known as an environmentally friendly industry \u2014 especially when toxic chemicals like hypergolics and perchlorates come into play, and when thousands of pieces of space junk litter the sky. But Stoke Space\u2019s co-founder and CEO, Andy Lapsa, told GeekWire that his company wants to change all that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of unsustainable rocket practices that have been done through history,\u201d Lapsa said. \u201cI think we\u2019re in general getting smarter about that, and a reusable second stage is a big, important part of that. We can\u2019t be dumping rockets in the ocean as we start flying hundreds or thousands of times per year.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"STOKE Space Technologies - Newcomer in Technology 2021\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c24KKz4MWbI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Stoke Space is starting with development of a fully reusable second stage that can be brought back to Earth without having to rely on exotic shielding.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is similar to what Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX plans to do with its massive Starship launch system, which is also designed for full reusability. But Stoke Space is shooting for a smaller rocket that\u2019s more appropriately scaled for the small satellites that have revolutionized the space industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything we do is with long-term sustainability and scalability in mind,\u201d said Lapsa, a veteran of Jeff Bezos\u2019 Kent-based Blue Origin space venture.<\/p>\n<p>Stoke Space operates out of a 21,000-square-foot engineering and manufacturing headquarters in Kent, plus a rocket test facility on a 2.3-acre spread near Moses Lake\u2019s airport. The fact that the test stand is just a few hours\u2019 drive from the factory makes it easy to put Stoke\u2019s hardware through its paces on a daily basis, Lapsa said.<\/p>\n<p>In February, Stoke announced that it raised $9.1 million in seed funding, adding to a flow of research revenue from NASA and the National Science Foundation. Since then, the company has made rapid progress: It completed a manufacturing demonstration of a full-scale second stage, and conducted full-power test firings of components for its second-stage rocket engine, including a triplet of thrust chambers nicknamed the three-pack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe set some sporty goals for ourselves internally, and we actually hit those goals,\u201d Lapsa said. That performance played into Breakthrough Energy Ventures\u2019 decision to lead an unusually large Series A funding round. <\/p>\n<p>Other participants in the round include several new investors: Spark Capital, Point72 Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Alameda Research and Global Founders Capital. There\u2019s also new money from investors in the earlier seed round, including NFX, MaC Ventures, Alexis Ohanian\u2019s SevenSevenSix and football great Joe Montana\u2019s Liquid2,<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What to know about Alexis Ohanian's funded space company\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5-nVyEtgE-k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As sporty as the past year has been, the coming year could be even sportier. Stoke aims to begin up-and-down flight tests of its second stage by the end of 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s designed to come back from orbit and land vertically at a precision location,\u201d Lapsa said. \u201cAnd that means that it can also take off from that precision location. So we\u2019ll just fly it right off the ground. It\u2019ll look a lot like the Starship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stoke hasn\u2019t yet announced where it intends to conduct the flight tests, and once it makes its choice, the Federal Aviation Administration would have to give its approval. Could Moses Lake be in the running? \u201cThat\u2019d be a good guess,\u201d Lapsa said.<\/p>\n<p>The Series A funding is designed to get Stoke to the testing stage for its second stage, but after that, the company will have to develop a first-stage booster and presumably get access to orbital launch infrastructure. <\/p>\n<p>For what it\u2019s worth, Stoke plans to use liquid hydrogen as the fuel for its second stage, and methane for the first stage. Methane isn\u2019t a carbon-neutral fuel, which runs counter to Breakthrough Energy Ventures\u2019 zero-emission vision. But Lapsa argued that other carbon-based rocket fuels (like kerosene, for example) are worse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best thing you can do, if you\u2019re using a hydrocarbon fuel, is use the simplest hydrocarbon possible \u2014 and that\u2019s methane,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Because of Stoke Space\u2019s ambitions, the $65 million funding round announced today isn\u2019t likely to be the last time the company turns to outside investors. Lapsa is already gearing up to add to Stoke\u2019s current workforce of 29 employees, which includes engineers from Blue Origin, SpaceX and Spaceflight Inc. as well as bigger aerospace companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings are going to get more complex as we go, of course, but it\u2019s off to a great start,\u201d Lapsa said.<\/p>\n<p>Lapsa admitted that the stresses of leading a startup can sometimes get scary, even for a rocket scientist. \u201cIt\u2019s terrifying,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the best kind of terrifying. It\u2019s a lot of fun, and I guess the scary part of it is why we get up every day to go do something exciting, right? If it was comfortable, it wouldn\u2019t be as fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stoke Space puts its \u201cthree-pack\u201d of thrust chambers through a hot-fire test. (Stoke Space Photo) Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the multibillion-dollar clean-tech initiative created by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is leading a $65 million funding round to back Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space\u2019s effort to create a new breed of fully reusable rockets \u2014 and believe it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4690,4691,345],"class_list":["post-17446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-breakthrough-energy-ventures","tag-clean-tech","tag-stoke-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}