Former OpenAI executive Kevin Weil joins Stoke Space board as reusable rocket startup scales

Kevin Weil, a former executive at OpenAI, has joined the board of Stoke Space, a Seattle-based startup developing a fully reusable rocket called Nova.

Stoke Space was co-founded in 2020 by CEO Andy Lapsa, who previously worked at Blue Origin. The company has raised $1.34 billion to date, including a $510 million Series D funding round in 2025, according to TechCrunch reporting.

Weil’s background includes leadership roles at Twitter, Meta, Planet Labs, and OpenAI, where he most recently led efforts to accelerate scientific research and previously served as chief product officer from June 2024 to October 2025.

Lapsa told TechCrunch that Weil’s fundraising expertise and Silicon Valley network were instrumental in helping Stoke secure capital as it scaled from its 2020 Y Combinator participation to multi-hundred-million-dollar rounds.

Stoke’s Nova rocket is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, a technological challenge that has deterred even well-funded competitors like Blue Origin. SpaceX’s Starship remains the closest operational example, though its full reusability at scale has not yet been demonstrated.

The company’s near-term goal is to fly Nova this year, positioning Stoke to compete in a launch market where demand for reusable, cost-effective rockets is rising.

Weil’s prior experience includes serving as president of Planet Labs, a satellite earth observation company, and participating in a U.S. Army Reserve initiative aimed at improving cooperation between Silicon Valley and the Department of Defense.