Stoke Space, the Washington-based launch company, has raised a staggering $1 billion in a Series E funding round, co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital. This brings the company’s total capital raised to $2.3 billion, propelling its ambitious plans for a larger, more powerful rocket, the Block 2 version of the Nova, capable of lifting 15 metric tons to low-Earth orbit in a fully reusable configuration.

Andy Lapsa, Stoke Space’s co-founder and CEO, explained that the timing for this funding is strategic, saying, “We have already started development on a larger vehicle, and we felt like now is the time to pour gas on that fire and really start full-force development of the larger vehicle.”

The initial version of the Nova rocket, known as the Pathfinder, is designed to lift 3 metric tons in fully reusable mode and up to 7 tons in a fully expendable configuration. The first stage, powered by seven Zenith engines with a combined thrust of 700,000 pounds, is currently undergoing extensive structural tests at Stoke Space’s launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Meanwhile, the upper stage, featuring a ring of 24 thrusters and a regeneratively cooled heat shield, is being tested at the company’s site in Moses Lake, Washington. Stoke Space plans to conduct a hot fire test on the upper stage before bringing it to Florida for final assembly with the first stage.

This influx of capital and the company’s ambitious plans could hasten the advent of a new era in space exploration, making launches more frequent and routine.