Tom Feldman
Showing 1–2 of 2 transcripts.
- Y Combinator1 min
Building The World's First Reusable Rockets
Recognizing a critical industry flaw where single-use rockets are discarded after a single flight, founders launched a venture dedicated to developing rapidly reusable orbital vehicles to fill this technological vacuum. They proceeded with the conviction that full reusability was a necessary pursuit, accepting the venture as the "easiest hardest decision" based on a moral imperative to attempt the solution regardless of the probability of failure. This bold entry into the aerospace market was driven by the belief that the potential for a sustainable launch model justified the risks of building a new company from scratch.
- Y Combinator16 min
Inside The Startup Building Reusable Rockets
Aaron Epstein, Andy Lapsa, Tom Feldman
Stokes Space, founded in 2019 by former Blue Origin engineers Andy and Tom, is developing the Nova two-stage rocket to achieve full reusability for both orbital stages and drastically reduce launch costs. Backed by nearly $1 billion in funding and operating from a 168,000-square-foot factory in Kent, Washington, the company plans to execute its first orbital launch later this year from Historic Complex 14 in Florida. The team aims to establish daily launch cadence and ubiquitous space access by integrating in-house manufacturing with a proprietary software platform to manage rigorous testing and FAA-regulated operations.