Orbital launch vehicle
Nova
Stoke Space’s Nova launch vehicle is a planned fully reusable 2-stage rocket. The 1st stage uses 7 Zenith Full-flow staged-combustion (FFSC) engines using Liquified natural gas/liquid oxygen (LNG/LOX) as fuel, with restartable capability and landing legs for landing. The 2nd stage is unconventionally designed around a 24-thrust chamber liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen (LH2/LOX) expander cycle rocket engine that surrounds a regeneratively cooled heat shield, thus enabling the upper stage to return to Earth from orbit without thermal tiles. The nozzle accommodates deep throttle operation even in the presence of atmospheric pressure and serves as an actively cooled metallic heat shield during atmospheric reentry. There is also a center passive bleed that aims to create an aerospike engine-like effect for improved efficiency.
Nova is built by Stoke Space of the United States. Company background, funding, contracts and news for this operator are tracked on Space Index.
Payload
| Low Earth orbit | 3,000kg |
|---|---|
| Geostationary transfer orbit | 2,500kg |
Vehicle
| Stages | 2 |
|---|---|
| Length | 40.2m |
| Diameter | 4.2m |
| Launch mass | 227t |
| Liftoff thrust | 3,110kN |
| Reusable | Yes |
Pads used
Orbits delivered
Launch history
| Date | Mission | Pad | Orbit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | Nova | AstroForge Autonomy-1 (Demo Flight) | Space Launch Complex 14 | Low Earth Orbit | Scheduled |
Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.
Further reading: Wikipedia · Operator page
Fewer than three recorded flights, so this page is marked noindex. It is here for completeness, not for search.