The news
The Stoke Space CEO, Andy Lapsa, told a Seattle audience on Monday, September 28, that if the reusable-rocket company were starting from scratch, he is not sure it would choose Washington state, GeekWire reported. He cited politics, schools and a wealth tax push.
Lapsa gave the keynote at a Seattle Space Week event hosted by Creative Destruction Lab-Seattle. According to GeekWire, he said Stoke picked Washington for its talent in software, aerospace and manufacturing. But he said the state has a political climate that vilifies successful companies and founders, does less than other states to court promising startups, and has public schools in Seattle that he described as a failed institution.
His sharpest warning was about the push for a wealth tax on unrealized gains, meaning paper increases in the value of assets that have not been sold. Lapsa argued that when a startup raises money, its founders become wealthy on paper overnight without any cash to pay the resulting bill, so only people who are already rich could afford to start companies. "I'm not sure we'd make the same decision," he said of choosing Washington.
Lapsa also said South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Idaho and Illinois had all emailed him in the previous week or two trying to get Stoke to open operations there, and that he had never received the same from Washington, according to GeekWire. The outlet noted he was speaking hypothetically about new founders and did not suggest Stoke plans to leave the state, where it has been expanding.
Hours later, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed an executive order at the Museum of Flight creating the 23-member Washington Space Council, according to GeekWire and the Washington State Standard. Lapsa is a member. Ferguson said the council will compare Washington with other leading states, identify barriers for the industry and explore Washington-based commercial launch capabilities.
The stakes are real for the state. According to GeekWire, Stoke announced a roughly $1 billion Series E in September, bringing total funding to about $2.3 billion. It has more than 350 employees in Washington, a 168,000-square-foot factory in Kent and a test site in Moses Lake that it is expanding from 75 to 550 acres.
The numbers
- Stoke Series E (announced September 2026)
- About $1 billion
- Stoke total funding
- About $2.3 billion
- Stoke employees in Washington
- 350+
- States that emailed Lapsa, per his remarks
- 6
- Washington Space Council members
- 23
- Washington space companies, per Gov. Ferguson
- 90+ companies, 13,000+ workers
Why CEOs should care
For CEOs of capital-heavy startups, Lapsa's remarks are a reminder that location is a financial decision, not only a talent decision. A tax on unrealized gains would hit founders whose wealth sits in illiquid shares. If your state is debating one, ask your tax advisers to model the effect on founders and early employees at your next funding round, and brief your board before the debate is settled.
For finance chiefs and site-selection teams, the list of states that contacted Stoke shows how actively governments are competing for hardware and space companies. Before committing to a new factory or test site, collect written offers from several states covering incentives, permitting timelines, energy and industrial land. Kent Mayor Dana Ralph told the Space Week audience that roads, water, sewer, energy and industrial land are the basics companies need, according to GeekWire.
For investors and boards, a fast-growing portfolio company's home-state politics now belongs on the risk register. Ask management where the next expansion will go, what it would cost to move key teams, and whether retention packages depend on state tax rules that could change.
The bigger picture
Lapsa's remarks echoed a July op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who singled out Stoke as a test of whether companies see Washington as the best place to grow, according to GeekWire. Lapsa cited Schultz and Jeff Bezos as founders the region has vilified, and pointed to Boeing's headquarters move and Amazon's second headquarters as part of the same pattern.
Washington still has a large base to defend. Ferguson said the state has more than 90 space companies employing more than 13,000 workers, with $1.6 billion in annual payroll. Lapsa, speaking at the council launch, said states such as Florida, Texas and Colorado are competing for the industry every day.
What’s next
Watch what the Washington Space Council recommends on workforce, infrastructure and launch capabilities, and whether the push for a tax on unrealized gains advances. Stoke plans the first launch of its fully reusable Nova rocket from Cape Canaveral in early 2027, according to GeekWire; where it builds its next facilities will show whether Washington's pitch is working.
What “Fact-checked” means
Fact-checking means testing a story’s facts against the evidence before it is published. This story went through at least two separate checks before this version was published.
- What we checked
- Its names, figures, dates, job titles, quotes and who said what were checked against the story’s sources, including its main source where it could be opened. The headline was checked for accuracy and overstatement.
- How
- A first check reviewed the whole story. If it passed, a second, skeptical check went back to the sources to look for mistakes in the most important facts. If a check flagged the story, it was edited to fix the problems found, and a separate re-check then reviewed the whole story again.
- Who
- The checks are made by our newsroom, as steps kept separate from the writing, under rules set by our editor, Hussein Mukhtar. A story the checks still flag is held for the editor, who decides whether it is fixed, published or dropped.
- If something is wrong
- “Fact-checked” does not mean error-free. If a material error is found after publication, we correct the story and add a note saying what changed. Report an error
