Andy Lapsa

Pc and MR sweeps. So pretty.

Great to host NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya at our HQ last week, just in time to see the aft module fit up to stage 1!🚀🚀

@jukenthebox7 *Z*enith *E*ngine 12, spoken by an Irishman

@AndyLapsa What is zeddy twelve a reference to?

omg if this isn't an amazing picture idk what is

@ScottRheeder @stoke_space @Rkt_Da When it’s ready :) We’re working hard and want it as much as anyone!

@stoke_space @AndyLapsa @Rkt_Da When is Nova going to have a test Flight Andy?

Big tank. Big tests. Big milestone. Nova Stage 1 proto-qualification is complete. 46 structural objectives verified, plus key fluid systems, avionics, software, ground systems, and ops demos. (More detail in our linked blog post.) This is where new rockets often find the hard stuff; Nova (and the Stoke team) handled it. Our local partners at the @PORTOFMOSESLAKE , the Grant County Sheriff's Office and Public Works department, plus our vendor Norco made sure we had the support we needed every step of the way. Ad Astra.✨ stokespace.com/nova-stage-1-c…

Super proud of the team for this one. BIG step!

Engines racking up time on both test cells. Vehicle turned on and about to start testing...things are happening!

From factory floor to installed on stand in less than 18 hours - not bad for SN1!

Hey that's a neat truck

Incredible work by our small but mighty team of structures engineers and fabricators. Can’t wait to see this thing go vertical!

@erikkuna @SuperclusterHQ @MiopsTrigger @CanonUSA @NASAArtemis GOAT

This is the shot you can’t get from the press site. This camera was sitting a few football fields from the SLS rocket at Pad 39B for days before launch, baking in the Florida sun, surviving rain, humidity, and whatever else the Cape threw at it. No photographer behind the viewfinder. Just a camera, a sound trigger, and a bet. The way pad remotes work: you set your camera up days in advance, dial in your composition, lock everything down, and walk away. You don’t touch it again until after the launch. The shutter fires on sound activation with a @MiopsTrigger smart+ trigger. With SLS, the four RS-25 engines ignite six seconds before the solid rocket boosters, so the camera is already firing before the vehicle even leaves the pad. You get home, pull the card, and find out if you nailed it or if a bird landed on your lens two days ago and left your a present and you got 400 photos of soemthing crappy. There’s no formula for protecting your gear this close. Some photographers build wooden boxes with doors that pop open. Some use plastic bags and tape. Some do plastic or metal barn door rigs on hinges. I tend to leave mine open just in plastic rain covers because boxes limit my composition and setup time, but that means your cameras are more exposed to the elements and whatever energy and debris comes off the pad. You’re basically gambling a camera body every time you set one. That’s what I love about this genre. There’s no playbook. You make it up as you go. Every time is an adventure. 📸 credit: me for @SuperclusterHQ - Artemis II pad remote | ~1,000 ft from Pad 39B | Kennedy Space Center

Checkin off objectives

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! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

🚀

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.