Stoke hovers their rocket!

[Legend]

???? pic.twitter.com/2EXvwX1IH0

— Stoke Space (@stoke_space) September 18, 2023

This is freaking incredible. As you can see there's no traditional rocket engine here. The big dome in the middle will act as a heat shield on reentry but it also helps control the exhaust like an inverse engine bell.

Performing a hop test is a major milestone. Still a long way to go for an orbital flight test but it shows that this team is more than vc hype.

[Legend]

So stoked.

Cislunar 1000 was such an amazing concept yet it's already outdated. Why extract fuel from the Moon and bring it back near Earth when you can just make super cheap fully reusable rockets instead?