Porsche SE acquires a stake in U.S. space company Stoke Space

• First flight of the “Nova Pathfinder”, Stoke Space’s first orbital launch vehicle which is being developed to enable full reusability, planned for early 2027
• Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the board of management of Porsche SE: “Stoke Space is pursuing a unique and highly promising technological approach and has assembled one of the world’s leading teams of experts in rocket development. This makes the company a highly attractive investment.”

Stuttgart, 8 September 2026. Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche SE) has acquired a stake in the U.S. space company Stoke Space Technologies (Stoke Space) with an investment volume in the low double-digit million U.S. dollar range. The investment was made as part of a 1 billion U.S. dollars Series E financing round. Following Isar Aerospace, this is Porsche SE’s second investment in the space sector and another step in its strategic development into a diversified and global investment platform.

Stoke Space develops a two-stage launch vehicle aiming for both stages to be fully reusable. Currently, SpaceX is the only other company employing this approach. Through the full reusability and unique design of the rocket’s second stage, featuring an actively cooled metallic heat shield, Stoke Space aims to achieve a higher launch cadence and, in the long term, significantly lower launch costs compared with conventional rockets.

The first flight of the “Nova” launch vehicle is planned for early 2027. The management team led by CEO Andy Lapsa includes leading experts in rocket development who previously held positions at, among others, SpaceX and Blue Origin. Stoke Space is among a very small number of companies with its own launch site at Cape Canaveral, one of the world’s most important spaceports. The launch site was completed in 2026 and includes, in addition to the launch pad, an integration facility and landing infrastructure for the reusable rocket stages.

“The addressable market for rocket launches targeted by Stoke Space is characterized by significant excess demand that is currently served almost exclusively by SpaceX. Stoke Space is pursuing a unique and highly promising technological approach and has assembled one of the world’s leading teams of experts in rocket development. This makes the company a highly attractive investment,” says Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the board of management of Porsche SE.

Stoke Space intends to use the proceeds from the financing round to further develop its launch vehicles, including its larger configuration, Nova V2, conduct future launches and scale its production and testing facilities. This round was co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, including participation from Glade Brook Capital, U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), and Incharge Capital Partners, the joint venture established by Porsche SE and the investment firm DTCP, as well as other new and existing investors.

Further information on Stoke Space can be found on the company’s website: https://www.stokespace.com/

Stoke Space’s press release on the Series E financing round is available at the following link: https://www.stokespace.com/news/stoke-space-series-e