内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/stoke-space-510m-nova-rocket/

内容总结：

美国航天初创企业斯托克空间技术公司近日宣布完成5.1亿美元（约合人民币37亿元）新一轮融资，用于加速研发可完全重复使用的中型运载火箭"新星"。本轮D轮融资由美国创新技术基金领投，硅谷银行同步提供1亿美元信贷支持，使公司融资总额增至9.9亿美元。

公司联合创始人兼首席执行官安迪·拉普萨表示，这笔资金将确保"新星"火箭在明年从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地14号发射台完成首飞。该发射台具有历史意义——1962年美国首位宇航员约翰·格伦曾由此进入太空。

斯托克空间公司成立于2019年，由蓝色起源前资深工程师拉普萨和汤姆·费尔德曼共同创立，致力于打造可将2至20吨有效载荷送入轨道的完全可重复使用火箭。与SpaceX和蓝色起源专注重型火箭不同，该公司瞄准中型运载市场，其研发的液冷隔热罩技术有望突破轨道火箭第二级回收技术瓶颈，显著降低太空运输成本。

值得注意的是，尽管尚未完成轨道发射，该公司今年已入选美国太空军国家安全发射供应商名单。投资者认为，其创新技术将强化美国在太空经济领域的竞争力。除扩建发射设施外，新融资还将用于提升供应链能力及高频次发射所需的基础设施建设。

中文翻译：

总部位于华盛顿州肯特市的斯托克太空技术公司今日宣布，已完成5.1亿美元新一轮融资，将用于加速全复用中型运载火箭Nova的研发进程。此轮D轮融资由托马斯·图尔创立的美国创新技术基金领投，硅谷银行同步提供了1亿美元信贷支持。该公司表示，本轮融资使其总融资额实现翻倍增长，累计达9.9亿美元。

"这笔资金为我们完成研发并通过首飞验证Nova火箭提供了重要保障，"联合创始人兼首席执行官安迪·拉普萨在公告中表示。若按计划推进，首枚Nova火箭将于明年从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地的14号发射台升空。

作为西雅图地区蓬勃发展的航天产业中备受瞩目的企业之一，斯托克太空专注于研制可重复使用运载火箭，其设计运载能力为2至20吨。该公司由拉普萨与汤姆·费尔德曼于2019年联合创立，二人均曾供职于杰夫·贝索斯创立的蓝色起源航天公司，费尔德曼现任斯托克公司首席技术官。

尽管SpaceX的猎鹰9号、重型猎鹰火箭一级助推器已实现复用，蓝色起源也为新格伦火箭设计了可回收助推器，但轨道级火箭第二级的回收复用仍是行业难点。这正是SpaceX通过星舰超级火箭、斯托克通过Nova火箭致力攻克的技术壁垒。

斯托克太空研发的液冷隔热罩技术为第二级复用开辟了新路径，有望显著降低太空运输成本。这种低成本发射前景已吸引比尔·盖茨的突破能源基金、勤勉创投与Y Combinator等投资方近十亿美元资金。

图尔在公告中称赞斯托克团队的远见卓识，表示"很荣幸支持他们定义美国航空航天新纪元的使命"。他强调："发射能力已成为美国在太空经济中竞争与引领地位的决定性因素。斯托克在可复用发射系统领域的创新直接推动着我国国家安全与商业轨道接入能力。"

本轮跟投机构包括华盛顿港合伙公司、通用创新资本合伙公司、776基金、突破能源基金、格莱德溪资本、勤勉创投、NFX基金、斯巴达集团、丰田创投和编织资本等。

斯托克表示新融资将用于扩大Nova运载火箭产能，完成14号发射台改造——该发射台曾于1962年将约翰·格伦送入轨道，使其成为美国首位绕地球飞行的宇航员。公司还计划投资供应链体系、自主研发的Boltline项目管理软件，以及高频次发射所需的基础设施。

除佛罗里达发射场外，斯托克在肯特市拥有16.8万平方英尺总部（毗邻蓝色起源总部），并在华盛顿州摩西湖设有75英亩测试场。

当SpaceX和蓝色起源聚焦于星舰、新格伦等重型火箭时，斯托克正瞄准中型运载市场。尽管尚未实施入轨发射，该公司今年已被美国太空军列入国家安全发射供应商名录。

"我们设计Nova火箭正是为了弥补运载能力的实际空白。国家安全太空发射合同与大量商业发射订单印证了这一需求，"拉普萨指出，"投资方与政府伙伴的新支持使我们能持续专注推动Nova独有技术走向市场。"

英文来源：

Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space Technologies today revealed that it has raised $510 million in fresh funding to accelerate development of its fully reusable medium-lift Nova rocket.
The Series D funding round, let by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund, comes in conjunction with a $100 million debt facility led by Silicon Valley Bank. Stoke said the new financing has more than doubled its total capital raised, bringing the figure to $990 million.
“This funding gives us the runway to complete development and demonstrate Nova through its first flights,” Stoke co-founder and CEO Andy Lapsa said in a news release. If all goes according to plan, the first Nova rocket is expected to lift off next year from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Stoke Space, one of the brightest stars of the Seattle area’s growing space industry, is focusing on building a fully reusable rocket capable of putting two to 20 tons of payload in orbit. The company was founded in 2019 by Lapsa and Tom Feldman, a fellow veteran of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture. Feldman now serves as Stoke’s chief technology officer.
SpaceX has pioneered reusability for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first-stage boosters, and Blue Origin has designed the booster of its New Glenn rocket to be reusable. But recovering and reusing the second stage of an orbital-class rocket is a tougher nut to crack. That’s one of the things that SpaceX is working to achieve with its Starship super-rocket — and that Stoke is working to achieve with Nova.
Stoke Space has developed a liquid-cooled heat shield that could open the way for second-stage reusability, which would lower the cost of access to space. The prospect of cheaper launches is why the startup has attracted nearly a billion dollars in funding from investors including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Industrious Ventures and Y Combinator.
In today’s announcement, Tull praised the Stoke team’s vision and said he was “proud to support their mission in defining the next chapter of U.S. aerospace.”
“Launch capacity is now a defining factor in the U.S.’s ability to compete and lead in the space economy,” Tull said. “Stoke’s pioneering approach to reusable launch systems directly advances our national security and commercial access to orbit.”
The investors who joined USIT in the Series D round include Washington Harbour Partners LP, General Innovation Capital Partners, 776, Breakthrough Energy, Glade Brook Capital, Industrious Ventures, NFX, Sparta Group, Toyota Ventures and Woven Capital.
Stoke said the fresh funding will be used to expand production capacity for the Nova launch vehicle and finish refurbishment of Launch Complex 14 — the pad from which John Glenn lifted off to become the first American in orbit in 1962. Stoke also plans to invest in its supply chain, its Boltline software for project management, and the infrastructure that will be needed for high-cadence launch operations.
In addition to the Florida launch facility, Stoke has a 168,000-square-foot headquarters facility in Kent — not far from Blue Origin’s HQ — and a 75-acre test facility in Moses Lake, Wash.
While SpaceX and Blue Origin are focusing on heavy-lift rockets such as Starship and New Glenn, Stoke is targeting the medium-lift launch market. Even though Stoke Space hasn’t yet launched a rocket to orbit, it was added to the U.S. Space Force’s list of providers for national security launches this year.
“We’ve designed Nova to address a real gap in launch capacity, and the National Security Space Launch award, along with our substantial manifest of contracted commercial launches, affirms that need,” Lapsa said. “The fresh support from our investors and government partners enables our team to remain laser-focused on bringing Nova’s unique capabilities to market.”