AI Summary
5 min read🎙️ The Voices & The Context
- The Format: A dynamic blend of narrated documentary-style storytelling, on-site interview, and factory tour at Stoke Space headquarters, blending exposition with founder Q&A.
- The Key Players:
- Andy and Tom: Co-founders of Stoke Space, former Blue Origin jet propulsion engineers turned rocket pioneers; interesting for bootstrapping fully reusable rockets from backyard prototypes to $990M funding.
- Host/Narrator: Unnamed guide (likely Tim Dodd or similar space podcaster), providing context, tours, and probing questions.
- The Vibe: Exciting and inspirational—high-energy optimism about space innovation, mixed with raw startup grit and technical deep dives.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Andy Lapsa & Tom Feldman (Stoke Space Founders)**
- 2 (01:15) **Current Space Launch Limitations**
- 3 (02:02) **Rocket Hardware Design**
- 4 (04:07) **Founders' Origins and Backstory**
- 5 (05:20) **Why Start Stoke Space**
- 6 (07:15) **Early Prototyping and Backyard Testing**
- 7 (08:45) **Fundraising Journey and YC**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Stoke Space is racing to build the world's first fully reusable rockets that can launch, survive reentry, and fly again and again. In this episode of Hard Tech, YC’s Aaron Epstein sits down with Stoke Space co-founders Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman to find out why they chose to take on one of the hardest problems in rocket science, how an obsession with efficiency gives them an edge, and what full reusability could unlock for the future of spaceflight.
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