Stoke Space readies Nova rocket for potential 2026 debut

At a rocket factory in Kent, Washington, three engines sit ready to leave the shop floor for hot-fire testing. Stoke Space has completed Zenith 14, Zenith 15 and Zenith 16 for Nova’s first flight, while also mating the rocket’s payload module, second-stage tanks and Andromeda 2 engine for fit checks. The company is now moving hardware toward a potential 2026 debut.

The upper stage is designed to return from orbit without conventional heat-shield tiles. Its Andromeda 2 engine uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, with a ring of 24 thrusters capable of unlimited restarts around a metallic base cooled by circulating cryogenic hydrogen. That same ring would provide propulsion in space and fine control during a powered landing. Nova is also designed for in-space refueling and for rendezvous, capture and repositioning of space assets.

The first stage uses seven full-flow staged-combustion Zenith engines fueled by methane and liquid oxygen. Together, they are designed to produce 3,110 kN of thrust at liftoff. Stoke says Nova could deliver approximately 3,000 kg to low-Earth orbit in a fully reusable configuration, while an expendable second-stage configuration could deliver 7,000 kg to low-Earth orbit and 2,500 kg to geostationary transfer orbit.

So what does that change, concretely? If the design reaches flight, a reusable first stage and upper stage could give satellite operators a vehicle built for repeated missions rather than one-way hardware. But Nova is not there yet: the three engines still need validation testing, the vehicle’s elements must be acceptance-tested and integrated, and the first stage is likely to be expended on the first flight.

The launch site is taking shape at Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, a former Mercury-Atlas site that hosted John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission. Stoke’s pad includes a horizontal integration facility, a launch mount, a flame trench and a 39 m umbilical support tower. NASA is partnering with Stoke on reentry work at Ames Research Center, including testing and development of the regeneratively cooled metallic heat shield. The debut remains a target, with final testing and pad activation still ahead.