Stoke Space completes engine builds, fit checks ahead of Nova debut
Stoke Space mated Nova's second stage for fit checks and finished building three first-stage engines ahead of its 2026 debut.
what happened
Stoke Space mated Nova's payload module, second-stage tanks, and Andromeda 2 engine for fit checks in early August and has completed construction of three flight-purpose Zenith first-stage engines, shipping them for testing, per NASASpaceflight. The mated second-stage stack will likely not fly on Nova's first mission, but the fit checks and completed engines are milestones toward the vehicle's planned 2026 debut. Nova's second stage uses a ring of 24 Andromeda 2 thrusters around a regeneratively cooled heat shield, letting the LH2/LOX stage survive reentry and land propulsively without traditional heat-shield tiles.
why it matters
Nova is a fully reusable medium-lift vehicle competing for the launch-market tier between Rocket Lab's Electron and SpaceX's Falcon 9; each hardware milestone Stoke clears narrows the gap to a maiden flight that would make it the newest entrant in that class, a segment several well-funded rivals are also racing to fill.
for who
Medium-lift launch buyers evaluating new entrants
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Stoke Space
- Category
- launch
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 3 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-08-19
- Published
- 2026-08-20 05:32 UTC