Andy Lapsa

Pc and MR sweeps. So pretty.

It’s great to see our nation’s space program returning to a culture of pragmatism and results under @rookisaacman. Under that context, congrats to @SenateCommerce and @commercedems for advancing the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2026. This bill puts NASA on a path to unlock the LEO economy with scalable transportation to, through, and from space, advancing America’s leadership in the developing space economy.

it's an honor and a privilege to carry this historic pad into the future. lfg! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

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5 yrs since YC but feels like 20 (and also feels like yesterday). Fun retelling those earliest days but it's still day 1 for us and for space, and there's a LOT more to do!

@paulg No pressure. Got it.

"Andy never fails." — me in an email to a YC partner about Andy Lapsa

@MattGialich @SciGuySpace @stoke_space I'm partial to BiggererNova_v3_final_final_DONE

@SciGuySpace @stoke_space @AndyLapsa Valid

Can’t wait to ride this to the stars. @stoke_space flight 1!

@SciGuySpace’s work is always no BS and heavily researched. In fact we give a copy of his book Liftoff to every new hire so it was an honor to spend some time with him at SLC-14 and share the progress.

Congrats to everyone at Blue for an incredible flight. Those engines...all the feels 🥰

It was less than 10 years ago when the idea of recovering a 1st stage was extremely controversial. Now it's absurd to even consider anything else. Today, the same skepticism surrounds 2nd stage reuse, but it won't be long until that, too, is archaic.

🔥

SLC-14 coming to life!

@booster_10 This was a planned test to structural limit as part of our structural qualification program. In addition to the multiple prior test objectives, this was the purpose of the “tiny tank”…

This Stoke Space test tank failed during testing, it is currently unclear whether this was an accident or an intentional test to failure.

@DaveEnright6 @BellikOzan @KenKirtland17 @eager_space @Erdayastronaut Nova is regeneratively cooled with hydrogen - no transpiration. My estimation is that successful transpiration has logistical challenges, especially for no-touch long-life reusability.

@BellikOzan @KenKirtland17 @eager_space Ok so any guess as to why highly innovative SpaceX (Their words) is not prototyping any transpirational cooling first article systems? I need to revisit @Erdayastronaut interview w @AndyLapsa and confirm the gas Nova 2nd Stage will transpire. Methane has much lower thermal cond

@KenKirtland17 @eager_space @BellikOzan One of you has likely watched this PhD video from 2023. Thoughts on scalability beyond Stoke’s Nova class blunt body 2nd stage ?

@TopherHaddad We need infra in all domains in space, and VLEO is uniquely under-developed. I'm excited about this!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Albedo is going all-in on VLEO systems For years, the space industry has competed on resolution, altitude, and scale — bigger optics, higher orbits, more satellites. But what if the next advantage doesn’t come from going higher, but from getting closer? We started @Albedo to build the next generation of Earth-imaging satellites. What we built to take better pictures became something much bigger: a way to operate reliably in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) — 275 km above Earth, where drag and atomic oxygen used to make long-duration missions impossible. This breakthrough changed our focus. From this point forward, we’re no longer selling commercial imagery. We’re building the infrastructure that makes an entire orbital layer operational and scalable. Our full effort is going into building the systems that make sustained flight in VLEO possible. The economics of getting closer Satellites today operate in three established orbit domains: GEO - Farther MEO - Middle LEO - Closer VLEO is roughly half the altitude of LEO. Getting this close to Earth doesn’t just improve performance; it also changes the economics of space. Satellites in VLEO can: → Capture higher-resolution data with smaller, cheaper payloads → Maintain stronger downlinks and uplinks at lower power → Deliver faster latency for real-time applications → Maneuver dynamically to balance endurance, precision, and autonomy The physics are simple: signal strength ∝ range², and for two-way systems, performance ∝ range⁴. Halving the distance delivers roughly 4× the signal power — or 16× for two-way systems — enabling smaller optics, lower-power transmitters, and lower mass. These efficiencies compound. Smaller spacecraft mean lower build and launch costs, faster iteration, and more frequent refresh cycles — a new economic curve for every market that depends on satellites, with a similar compounding cycle that transformed cloud infrastructure and semiconductors. Clarity’s proof through Solar Max Our first spacecraft, Clarity, has been on orbit for seven months through Solar Max, the most demanding period of the solar cycle. Clarity is performing 12% better than design predictions in drag efficiency, has executed 150 km of controlled maneuvers, and has maintained strong power generation while its solar arrays are exposed to atomic oxygen — a reactive element that corrodes conventional spacecraft materials at hypersonic speed. We’ve also uploaded 12 flight-software updates while in orbit, adding novel control modes and solving issues in real time. Clarity was designed for an average five-year lifespan at ~275 km, proving that long-duration, low-altitude operations are sustainable with the right architecture. VLEO isn’t experimental anymore. It’s operational. Our reliance on satellites requires redundancy LEO is crowded and vulnerable. VLEO offers the opposite: a naturally self-cleaning layer that clears debris in weeks, not years. Everyday life runs on space: ATMs to national security. As launch costs fall and cadence rises, redundancy shouldn’t mean “more LEO” — it means adding a second layer in VLEO. In testimony to Congress last year, John F. Plumb (Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy) warned that a high-altitude nuclear detonation could render LEO unusable for up to a year. Diversifying architectures ensures continuity of communications, intelligence, and warning missions even under extreme conditions. VLEO sits below the radiation belts and in a naturally debris-clearing regime, making rapid reconstitution assured. What’s next for Albedo We’re dedicating our full engineering and operations teams to VLEO systems: buses, integrated satellites, and turnkey missions. These past few years proved the physics. Now we’re scaling the infrastructure that will make VLEO the next productive, sustainable orbit in space. If you believe the next edge in space isn’t higher but closer, please reach out. More to come.

Honored, humbled, and ready to do the work. L.F.G.

This installation process was wild. People are amazing!

@pr0ximacentaura @stoke_space LOVE this! Great work!!

With @stoke_space Nova's maiden launch creeping closer day by day, i made a little animation (: Good luck @AndyLapsa and team!! youtu.be/WtyvHivpjmQ

HUGE effort and great success on this one. Super proud to work with such a great team 💪

@sama It completes the human experience. That’s how I think about it.

i can't think of a non-cliche way to say this, but everyone who says having a kid is the best thing in the world is both correct and still somehow understating it.