Pentagon Office commits to $150 million loan guarantee for Stoke Space’s Florida pad

The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital announced a conditional $150 million loan guarantee to Stoke Space Technologies, Inc. on Monday, October 26, 2026, for a second launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. ￿

The guarantee will fund dedicated ground infrastructure for Stoke’s larger Nova Block 2 reusable rocket at the Florida station. SatNews said the pad would establish dedicated ground infrastructure for the Block 2 configuration, separate from existing Cape Canaveral infrastructure used for Pathfinder tests, and said the planned launch facility is engineered specifically for the Nova Block 2 vehicle. The outlet described the financing as conditional rather than final and linked the commitment to the Office of Strategic Capital instead of a conventional launch services contract. ￿

Before the guarantee becomes final, Stoke must clear financial, legal, technical and due-diligence reviews. SatNews described the conditionality as a requirement that must be met before the agreement is completed. After closing, government-backed debt will combine with private capital to pay for pad construction. The outlet said this pairing will finance construction ahead of Nova Block 2’s 2029 debut. ￿

The Pentagon commitment arrived less than two months after Stoke closed a $1 billion funding round in September 2026, bringing total private capital to $2.3 billion. SatNews said the September round built on earlier equity financing, including $510 million raised to scale Nova launch vehicle manufacturing. MarketScreener linked the Pentagon investment to this prior private funding round, reporting that Stoke described its $1 billion Series E round as bringing total capital raised to $2.3 billion to accelerate Nova Block 2 development.

The financing builds on Stoke’s existing government relationships. Space Systems Command awarded Stoke a position on the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 contract for defense launch competitions. SatNews said the infrastructure financing builds on these existing government ties.

The Space Force placed Stoke in a competitive pool for national security missions under Lane 1 of the third launch phase in 2025. GeekWire explained that Lane 1 serves newer launch companies and less demanding payloads. Stoke must achieve a successful orbital flight before it can compete for those missions, a restriction the outlet stated as part of its description of Lane 1 eligibility.

Nova Block 2 is fully reusable and designed to lift up to 15 metric tons into low Earth orbit, five times Nova Pathfinder’s capacity. The planned launch facility specifically supports the Block 2 configuration. The vehicle will debut in 2029.

Stoke targets early 2027 for Nova Pathfinder test flights from its existing Cape Canaveral pad. SatNews said the existing pad handles these upcoming Pathfinder tests while the second pad supports the larger Block 2 configuration. MarketScreener reported that Stoke plans the first orbital launch of Nova Pathfinder for early 2027, a target date the outlet provided for Pathfinder’s debut orbital flight.

Stoke designed Nova so both stages return and fly again, with the booster flying itself back for recovery. GeekWire provided this description as part of its overview of Nova’s reusability. The upper stage uses a metal heat shield cooled by circulating liquid hydrogen to survive reentry heat, a thermal protection system the outlet described as part of Nova’s reentry design. Stoke has not reached orbit with any rocket, a fact the outlet noted in connection with Lane 1 bidding restrictions.

SpaceX is the only other company pursuing full launch vehicle reusability, with a much larger Starship, and it has not fully achieved that goal yet. GeekWire made this comparison while describing Stoke’s reusability ambitions, contrasting Stoke’s Nova with SpaceX’s much larger Starship.

Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman, both Blue Origin veterans, founded Stoke Space in 2019, with Lapsa serving as chief executive officer and Feldman as chief technology officer. GeekWire provided these founding details in its company profile. Stoke employs about 400 people, most working at its 168,000-square-foot factory and headquarters in Kent.

About 50 employees work at the Moses Lake test site and about 50 more at Cape Canaveral, part of GeekWire’s breakdown of where the company’s roughly 400 employees work. The Moses Lake test site is expanding from 75 acres to 550 acres, an expansion detail the outlet included in its description of employee locations.

NASA selected Stoke in June among 37 companies chosen for unfunded partnerships, though GeekWire reported the selection occurred in June without specifying the year. The company is working on safe atmospheric return of Nova’s upper stage. Stoke received a $4.5 million Defense Innovation Unit contract in 2024 to examine rapid cargo delivery to orbit and possible return to Earth, a contract the outlet listed among Stoke’s federal ties.

Congress gave the Office of Strategic Capital authority to issue loans and loan guarantees in 2023, the year after the office opened in 2022. GeekWire said the office opened in 2022 to attract private investment into technologies viewed as critical to national security.

GeekWire identified the Office of Strategic Capital as part of the Department of War. SatNews referred to the Pentagon or the U.S. Department of Defense. SpaceNews named the U.S. Department of Defense. MarketScreener also named the U.S. Department of Defense. ￿

Defense procurement authorities are shifting toward debt instruments for critical industrial base infrastructure instead of relying only on traditional launch contracts. SatNews tied the shift to the Office of Strategic Capital’s mission of crowding in private investment for critical defense technologies and expanding domestic launch capacity as national security orbital transport demand climbs.

The Office of Strategic Capital said the commitment supports expanded United States launch capacity needed to meet rising demand for commercial and national security launches by the United States Space Force, and MarketScreener attributed this statement to the Office of Strategic Capital. GeekWire reported that David Lorch, director of the Office of Strategic Capital, said expanding domestic launch facility capacity lets launch service providers give commercial and defense partners reliable, high-cadence access to space, in a news release about the investment.

MarketScreener described the Defense Department’s $150 million conditional loan commitment as a capital injection supporting the United States goal of increasing its warfighting advantage from space, framing the Pentagon investment within broader United States space defense objectives. The outlet also reported that Stoke’s technology can perform orbital plane changes and capture or return space assets, mentioning these capabilities while describing how Stoke will use the financing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

MarketScreener listed Point72 Ventures and Y Combinator among Stoke’s backers and reported that Porsche joined the Series E funding in September, investor details the outlet included in its report on Stoke’s financing. The outlet reported that Pentagon leaders confirmed earlier in 2026 that the military has deployed weapons in space, ending years of declining to discuss space-based weapons, background the outlet included within defense budget trends. The outlet also said the Trump administration is directing some defense budget toward companies building future warfare technologies such as hypersonic missiles, space-based weapons, and drones, a trend linked to Stoke’s ability to attract funding.