An American company is working on a fully reusable rocket that could make space transport significantly cheaper and may cut launch costs from $1,000 a kilo to a few hundreds of dollars.
Washington state-based Stoke Space is aiming to achieve what no company has done – operate commercial rockets whose first and second stages are designed to return to Earth and fly again.
“Stoke Space is looking to solve mobility to space, through space and from space,” Andy Lapsa, the company’s chief executive, told The National in an interview. “The only way to reduce costs, increase flight frequency and improve availability at the same time is through fully, rapidly reusable vehicles.”
While companies such as SpaceX have made strides with partially reusable rockets, Stoke Space wants to take reusability to the next level. It intends to develop its Nova rocket system, which would function almost like a commercial aircraft, with a quick turnaround time between flights.
Pioneering a reusable second stage
The challenge of creating a reusable second stage remains one of the industry’s biggest. Stoke Space’s approach involves a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen rocket engine and a liquid-cooled heat shield, which protects the vehicle during the intense heat and pressure of atmospheric re-entry.
Traditional methods for re-entry, such as ceramic tiles or ablative heat shields that burn away during descent, are either non-reusable or prone to damage, which adds to costs.
"The liquid-cooled heat shield enables us to go to space and come back and protect the vehicle during the very intense environments during re-entry," said Mr Lapsa.
Last year, the company tested a prototype second stage, successfully carrying out a vertical take-off and landing. The vehicle "hopped" nine metres in a 15-second flight. The test helped to demonstrate the company's engine, heat shield, software and other technology. This year, the company has carried out two tests of its new engine for its first stage.
Competitive race toward reusability
Stoke Space is not the only company racing to make fully reusable rockets a reality. SpaceX, the industry leader, is developing its Starship rocket, with both stages of the vehicle designed to return to Earth for reuse. The company has revolutionised the market with reusable first stages of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, but second stages are still expendable.
“Fully reusable vehicles are the end state of this industry,” said Mr Lapsa. “It’s critical for the global space economy to have more than one player providing services to get to space and back.”
Full reusability could cut launch costs significantly, enabling more frequent and affordable access to space.
Progress on the horizon
Stoke Space, which was founded five years ago, has developed two high-performance rocket engines and is working on flight hardware.
The company has raised more than $180 million from venture capitalists and is quickly building the technology. Some of the companies supporting Stoke Space include Seven Seven Six, Industrious Ventures and Toyota Ventures.
Mr Lapsa declined to give a timeline for the rocket's development targets but said progress is accelerating.
“We’re moving as fast as we need to make it happen,” he said.
He visited the UAE on December 10 and 11 to explore partnership opportunities and attend the Abu Dhabi Space Debate. “The UAE has become a global hub for economic activity, and I’m blown away by everything that’s been done here,” he said. “We’re trying to see where there might be areas of alignment or interest.”
