Episode summary
Fully Reusable Rockets With Stoke Space's Devon Papandrew
ARK Invest
· · 47 min · Hosts: Brett Winton, Daniel Maguire, Tasha Keeney · Guests: Devon Papandrew
Summary
Stoke Space is building a 100% reusable rocket designed to fly daily, with a particular focus on solving the hardest problem in launch: recovering the orbital upper stage. Devon Papandrew said the company’s thesis is that the space economy is bottlenecked by manufacturing-limited launch, and that full reuse can shift the industry toward an operations-limited model more like aviation.
He argued that Stoke’s key technical bet is an actively cooled heat shield that is also the upper-stage engine. By flowing liquid hydrogen through the vehicle’s reentry surface, Stoke aims to absorb reentry heat and avoid the fragile tile-based thermal protection systems that made shuttle-era reuse expensive and inspection-heavy. Papandrew said the company has accumulated over 11,000 seconds of hot-fire testing and is targeting a vehicle that can land, refuel, and fly again without refurbishment.
The discussion also covered Stoke’s vertical integration strategy, the move directly to full reuse instead of partial reuse, and the company’s Nova Block 2 development after a $1 billion Series E. Papandrew said SpaceX’s shift toward Starship leaves a “Falcon 9-shaped hole” in the market, creating demand for independent launch providers. He described a market that includes communications, defense, Earth observation, and eventually microgravity manufacturing that can only scale if payloads can come back down.
Key takeaways
- Devon Papandrew said Stoke is building a fully reusable rocket aimed at daily flight, including both booster and upper-stage recovery.
- Papandrew said Stoke’s upper stage uses an actively cooled heat shield that is also the engine, designed to survive reentry and avoid refurbishment.
- He said the company has logged over 11,000 seconds of hot-fire testing and is targeting first flight in early 2027.
- Papandrew said SpaceX’s shift toward Starship creates a “Falcon 9-shaped hole” in medium-lift launch capacity.
- He said Stoke is designing for 24-hour turnaround and high cadence, with future applications including microgravity manufacturing and payload return.
- Papandrew argued that customers need diverse independent launch providers because SpaceX and other incumbents are increasingly serving their own verticals.
Notable quotes
“Stoke is building 100% reusable rockets designed to fly daily”
“the founding thesis of Stoke is that in the future, rockets must be fully and rapidly reusable to achieve our economic goals”
“It is both an engine and a heat shield. They are one and the same”
“there is this big Falcon 9 shaped hole out there that the space industry has largely kind of designed their their satellites or constellations and their operations around”
How the episode opens
We need a diverse set of independent launch providers who want to serve the broader space ecosystem. There's a very very short list. I want to ensure that we can help grow that economy.
I don't bet against SpaceX, but I I I'm not going to assume that's a foregone conclusion that it just happens by next year. Welcome to FYI, the four-year innovation podcast. This show offers an intellectual discussion on technologically enabled disruption because investing in innovation starts with understanding it.
To learn more, visit arc-invest.com. Ark Invest is a registered investment advisor focused on investing in disruptive innovation. This podcast is forformational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.
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Hello and welcome to FYI, the four-year innovation podcast. I'm Brett Winton. We have a great lineup for you today.
We have Daniel Magcguire who is our reusable rockets guru. Uh we have Tasha Keany, director of research for robotics and autonomous mobility and many other technologies that fit into that category, but does that cover it Tasha? I'm not sure that's your official title, but I think that covers it.
Yes,
Good enough. Good enough for now. — Okay. And Devon Pap and Drew. Did I pronounce that right, Devon? I think you're Devon Pop and Drew. — Devon Pap and Drew. That's perfect. — All right. Yeah, it sounds like a Greek name.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- fully reusable rockets
- heat shield and engine reusability
- 24-hour turnaround
- starship vs falcon 9 market capacity
- microgravity manufacturing
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Stoke Space
- SpaceX
- Ark Invest
Watch the episode
Watch “Fully Reusable Rockets With Stoke Space's Devon Papandrew” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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