Nova is a fully reusable launch vehicle developed by Stoke Space. Its design centers on eliminating expendable components, with both the upper stage and payload fairing engineered for complete recovery and reuse. This approach allows hardware to be flown multiple times, with minimal refurbishment required between flights. The rocket is intended to support new mission profiles by enabling not only upmass to orbit but also downmass, such as returning cargo or debris from space.

Specs

Height: 40.2 m (132 ft)

Diameter: 4.2 m (14 ft)

Mass: 227,000 kg (500,000 lb)

Stages: 2

The rocket’s upper stage includes a regeneratively cooled metallic heat shield integrated with its liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen (LH2/LOX) engine system. The heat shield is actively cooled, designed to withstand repeated reentries, and is capable of landing vertically at the launch site. The stage supports unlimited engine restarts and has direct access to higher-energy orbits including geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) and trans-lunar injection (TLI).

For propulsion, Nova uses two engine types. The second-stage Altair engine operates on an expander cycle using LH2/LOX, producing more than 25,000 pounds of thrust with a specific impulse greater than 425 seconds. The first-stage engine is a full-flow staged combustion design powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and LOX, generating over 100,000 pounds of thrust and achieving a specific impulse of 345 seconds.

The vehicle is capable of carrying 3,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO) in a fully reusable configuration, or up to 7,000 kilograms to LEO in maximum payload mode. Additional performance figures include 2,500 kilograms to GTO, 1,250 kilograms to TLI, and 800 kilograms to C3 = 0. The payload fairing is also reusable, designed with a 180-degree by 360-degree deployment hemisphere.

Construction of Nova emphasizes durability, with steel tanks selected for their thermal and mechanical properties during repeated cycles of pressurization, heating, cooling, and reentry. The actively cooled metallic heat shield contrasts with conventional ceramic tile approaches, offering ductility and reduced maintenance requirements.

Stoke Space manufactures and tests Nova at facilities in Washington State, with a private test site located within driving distance of its design and production operations. The development approach integrates testing and iteration directly with manufacturing to accelerate the refinement of reusable systems.

Courtesy of Stoke Space.

Space Launch Complex 14 (SLC-14) is coming back to life in a big way, with Stoke Space transforming the historic pad into the future home of its fully reusable medium-lift rocket, Nova. Once the site of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 launch in 1962, SLC-14 has long stood as a monument to America’s earliest spaceflight achievements. After decades of dormancy, the pad is being rebuilt from the ground up to support high-cadence, 21st-century launch operations while still honoring its Mercury heritage.

The redevelopment has been moving at breakneck speed. In October 2024, Stoke secured final approvals following a two-year environmental review and broke ground less than 24 hours later. Since then, nearly 4,000 truckloads of soil have reshaped the pad’s foundation, while a 9.5-mile network of underground utilities has been installed. Major structures are rapidly rising: the Horizontal Integration Facility, where Nova’s stages will be assembled and prepared; a 121-foot-tall umbilical tower; a reinforced flame trench and diverter; and the launch mount itself, designed to withstand over a million pounds of thrust.

Supporting this modern pad are newly installed propellant farms and infrastructure designed with reuse in mind. Nova’s operations will prioritize rapid turnaround between flights, with off-site fabricated systems brought in for efficiency and repeatability. The vision is clear: to create a launch site that can support reusable rockets with the frequency and reliability of commercial air travel. Stoke’s team is confident they are on track for Nova’s first launch from SLC-14 in 2026.

Even as the site is rebuilt, its legacy remains deeply embedded in the project. More than 8,000 tons of concrete from the Mercury era have been recycled into the new foundations, while the original Blockhouse will continue as a museum under the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. At the complex entrance, the Mercury 7 monument still stands watch, its 1964 time capsule sealed beneath, now serving as a bridge between spaceflight’s past and future. For Stoke, bringing SLC-14 back online is more than just building a launchpad—it’s about carrying forward history while preparing for a new era of reusable spaceflight.

Photo courtesy of Stoke Space.