Nova
Nova familyStoke SpaceActiveReusable
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.
Specifications
- Thrust
- 3,110 kN
- Height
- 40.2 m
- Diameter
- 4.2 m
- Launch mass
- 227 t
- Stages
- 2
- LEO capacity
- 3,000 kg
- GTO capacity
- 2,500 kg
Specifications from Launch Library. Figures the operator has not published are omitted.
Flight record
Counted from padside's own launch record, the same basis as the stats page.
Flights
No completed launches on record yet.