Talk launches excitement for space, rockets

Why not?

A reusable rocket makes space more accessible and affordable. Tackling that problem of how to make it happen is Kent-Wash.-based Stoke Space.

Why not try and solve the problem?

"This is a very hard problem, and humanity doesn't go and solve every hard problem that it finds," Matt Dethlefsen, Stokes Space design engineer, said of the space launch company's mission to develop 100% reusable rockets. "So why do we care about it? Why do we want to solve it? The answer is that we want a new space economy, and I think we want this economy to have much-increased access to space."

Dethlefsen pointed to a navigation app he used to travel from Washington to Sandpoint, a website showing the weather and temperatures around the county, and a satellite used by mobile phone companies to connect its users.

These are just a few of the ways that space affects his life — and everyone else's. And points to why a reusable rocket makes sense and the many benefits that it will provide.

Dethlefsen was the featured speaker at Spacepoint's fall equinox celebration.

Kyle Averill and his wife, Roxanne, launched Spacepoint in March 2023 as part of an effort to promote local interest in the space industry. The goal, the pair have said, is to create a pipeline to the industry and education in all their diversity for students and residents in the region.

The Stoke Space design engineer was an ideal selection to speak at Spacepoint's fall equinox celebration Saturday, co-founder Kyle Averill told the 100 or so people who turned out for the event.

"A dear friend of mine said there are a few things we really value; one of them is innovation," Averill said. "And one of them, you could say, is disruption. Now when you're younger, your parents might call that a troublemaker, right?"

But those are good things, the Spacepoint co-founder said, adding that Dethlefsen fits them in all the ways that drive innovation and possibilities.

Dethlefsen talked about the need for a reusable rocket, both due to the cost of current flights and the many benefits it will engender.

It can take anywhere from six to 24 months to put something in space and can cost $20,000-$30,000 a pound, in part because of the cost to launch a rocket. By developing a reusable rocket, the cost of putting something in space could significantly decrease. That cost also contributed to the fact that there were only 223 launches in 2023.

"That's less than one a day," Dethlefsen said. "I live near Seattle, and there's a flight out of Sea-Tac every 45 seconds."

Of those launches, all were delayed, and there was a 5-10% launch failure rate. Contributing to that is that every rocket has new hardware every time. Much like a new car, there are often tweaks that are made after the initial model.

"How many cars that roll off the line work perfectly?" Dethlefsen asked. "Some of them work great, but almost every one of them has problems. And how do you solve those problems? You tweak them, you figure it out, you make small adjustments."

It's at that point that you have a car that runs for 200, 300, or 400,000 miles. It takes, the engineer added, a lot of iterations, repetitions, and practice.

Much like those cars, Dethlefsen said Stoke Space is working to develop an efficient, reusable rocket that will, because of its ability to be used multiple times, drive down the cost of accessing space. The trick, the team discovered is to architect the vehicle from the start, allowing Stoke Space to address potential concerns.

Both the first and second stages of the rocket would be reusable. Dethlefsen explained how the amount of weight of each stage of the rocket impacts how much can be included as freight. Other companies tackling the issue have focused on the first stage, but Stoke Space is focusing on all of the rocket's stages.

Other factors discussed were heat shields, the benefits and challenges of active cooling, and Stoke Space's use of landing legs to absorb impact and keep the rocket stable during landing.

As important as getting into space is getting down safely. There are three main methods to dissipate the energy of the rocket as it reenters the atmosphere — parachutes, aerobraking, and reverse thrusting of the engine. The advantage of aerobraking is that you aren't hampered by having to bring either parachutes or the fuel needed for reverse thrusting, allowing more room for items to be taken into space, Dethlefsen said.

The initial rocket won't be reused, but instead will be studied to better craft future rockets. Initial reuse will be limited with Stoke Space gradually increasing the number of flights.

"The vehicle is designed to be reused 100 times," Dethlefsen said. "That is the initial goal of what we're trying to tackle. My personal opinion is that 30 years from now, 100 flights won't mean anything — we're going to go way beyond that. But it takes a while to get there, and you have to start somewhere."

    Matt Dethlefsen is presented with a framed artwork by Roxanne Averill that was created by using contest entries from those attending Spacepoint's fall equinox celebration on Saturday. The goal of the contest was to draw an object of a Stoke Space rocket without looking down at the drawing and without lifting the pen from the paper.