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 | |
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 5T (5,000kg) 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]