100% Reusability, with Andy Lapsa (CEO of Stoke Space)

This week on Pathfinder, we welcome back Andy Lapsa, cofounder and CEO of Stoke Space. Stoke has made remarkable strides since Andy's last appearance on the show two years ago. They've grown to over 140 employees and developed innovative full-flow staged combustion cycle engines and reusable upper-stage prototypes. Andy shares his insights on the challenges and progress in creating fully reusable launch vehicles, emphasizing the importance of rapid reusability for reducing costs and increasing availability and reliability.We dive into Andy's background, including his ten years of experience at Blue Origin and his decision to start Stoke Space to accelerate the pace of innovation. We also discuss:The unique technical approach of Stoke and the architecture of their first launch vehicle, NovaThe strategic decision to focus on second-stage reusability and how it differentiates Stoke from other providersThoughts on the current state of launch and the market potential for multiple providersThe importance of manufacturing and scalability in achieving high-frequency launchesStoke's proprietary software, Fusion, and its role in optimizing operationsAnd much more... • Chapters •00:00 - Intro00:34 - What's changed since our last episode?03:04 - Why Andy started Stoke?07:09 - Andy's time at Blue Origin09:14 - What makes Stoke different from other launch providers?12:14 - Focusing on 2nd stage launch first14:47 - Payload capacity15:53 - Why has it taken so long for SpaceX to work on fully reusable launch capabilities?18:36 - Is there a market for multiple launch providers?21:32 - Growth in launch demand29:04 - Value proposition for working with Stoke30:25 - Getting to orbit36:24 - Minimum viable success37:59 - Product roadmap post-Nova40:03 - Investor misconceptions about launch42:21 - The factory is the product?44:52 - Fusion53:29 - What keeps Andy up at night?54:47 - Funding55:19 - Stoke's big vision56:12 - Who plays Andy in the movie about Stoke? • Show notes •Stoke’s website — https://www.stokespace.comStoke’s socials — https://twitter.com/stoke_spaceAndy’s socials — https://twitter.com/AndyLapsaMo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislamPayload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspacePathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspacePathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes • About us •Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece,  comes out on WednesdaysYou can sign up for all of our publications here: https://payloadspace.com/subscribe/