Stoke Space Tests Engine for Future Reusable Rocket

Stoke Space announced the first successful hot-fire test of an engine designed for a future reusable rocket. The Kent, Washington-based company tested its new full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine on June 5 at its test site in Moses Lake, Washington. Photos from the test show the engine kicking up a large plume of sand and gravel as the engine throttled to half of its maximum thrust.

Stoke Space aims to use the new engine technology in its Nova rocket, a launch vehicle designed to be 100% reusable and capable of launching, landing, and relaunching within just 24 hours. The company hopes Nova will be ready for an orbital test flight in 2025, according to SpaceNews.

“We are incredibly proud of this achievement,” said Andy Lapsa, CEO of Stoke Space, in a statement. “Our team has worked tirelessly to bring this engine to life in record time. This successful test is a testament to their talent and dedication, and it brings us one significant step closer to bringing the Nova launch vehicle to market. Nova’s unique capabilities will provide commercial, civil, and defense customers with access to, through, and from space.”

As reported on the company's website, Stoke's Nova rocket is being developed to have a reusable payload fairing and a thermal shield with active cooling technology. The thermal shield is integrated with the engine, which runs on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. These design elements are intended to make Nova “damage-resistant,” reducing the time needed for refurbishment between launches, according to the company.

In September 2023, Stoke conducted flight tests of a prototype rocket known as Hopper2 to demonstrate its new engine and landing system. The company stated that the tests provided an “incredible amount of data” to help advance the development of the reusable rocket.

Last year, Stoke Space was one of four companies granted access to launch pads at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of the U.S. Space Force's new Launch Pad Allocation Strategy (LPAS). The Space Force hopes that opening the pads to additional companies will help maximize launch capacity and “ensure a robust industrial base for space launches” for the United States.