Why Read: The field of space technology is entering a new era, with more and more entrants offering a variety of services previously unimaginable in efficiency, scale, and design. This week, we cover one of the most promising companies in space tech, and the rocket it is about to launch. Read on for a description of the state of the industry and why Stoke Space might just be the next big thing. - era

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. - President John F. Kennedy, Rice University address (9/12/62)

I'm hopeful that commercial space exploration will take off. To really fuel the spaceflight revolution will require an investment of hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and I think that's only going to happen in the commercial sector - if there are large profits to be made. - Alan Stern, Chief Scientist, Moon Express

Since the beginning of the space race in the mid-1950s, human eyes have turned skyward with a different gaze. The first launches, Sputnik, and, finally, the Moon landing proved out the case that humans really could move, survive, and operate in our final frontier. A new era was heralded; humanity would be a spacefaring species at last.

But then life got in the way. Promises of Moon bases first dreamed of in the science fiction of the 1920s seemed to fade as budgets were cut. NASA, at its peak, was responsible for over 4% of federal spending. While the organization survived massive attempted cuts in 2025, that number now stands at closer to 0.5%.  

Meanwhile, amid its disastrous war of aggression in Ukraine, Russia seems to have effectively slipped out of the running as both a global power and a space-capable nation. China, with rising budgets and capabilities, has taken its place.

But the promise in the space industry is no longer solely one of national governments funding federal agencies. The first private launch of the Conestoga 1 in 1982 proved that private companies could indeed reach space.

Now, that almost feels like ancient history, with SpaceX heavily in the lead for private launches, at 171 launches in 2025. Runners-up include Rocket Lab, at 20 launches, and United Launch Alliance (ULA), at 6. The advent of commercial CubeSats and other smaller payloads has dramatically increased the market for private launches, and we are entering an era of significant increases in spending to get things into low earth orbit (LEO).