| Function | Medium lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Stoke Space |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Height | 28.5 meters |
| Diameter | 4 meters |
| Stages | 2 |
| Associated rockets | |
| Comparable |
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| Launch history | |
| Status | In development |
| Launch sites | Cape Canaveral LC14 |
| Total launches | 0 |
Nova is a fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle being developed by Stoke Space that was announced in mid 2021.[1] It is planned to be a two-stage fully reusable launch vehicle with a planned payload capacity of 5 t (5,000 kg) into LEO. It will use seven engines consuming LNG/LOX for the first stage and a hydrolox (Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen) engine with 30 thrust chambers arranged in a ring around a regeneratively cooled heatshield, eliminating the need for brittle thermal tiles like on the Space Shuttle. For its reusable first stage, the company is considering 7 conventional full-flow-staged combustion rocket engines, burning methalox. This configuration is very similar to SpaceX's Raptor Engine.[2][3] The first stage performs an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) landing much like SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Starship's first stage, as well as Rocket Lab's planned Neutron.[4]
In 2024, Stoke proceeded on track with engine testing for Nova.[5]
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Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
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Rocketry
Spaceflight
Transport
