Stoke Space Announces Larger Constellation-Focused Launch Vehicle

For the past three years, launch startup Stoke Space has been developing its first launch vehicle, designed to be fully reusable with a unique design compared to the rest of the U.S. market.

Known as Nova, its 3.81-meter-diameter first-stage has been fairly conventional modern design-wise, featuring seven 'Zenith' full-flow staged combustion engines using liquid methane and liquid oxygen as propellant, while recovery is enabled by a trio of landing legs. That is where convention ends, as no aerodynamic grid fins assist with descent and a hot-staging ring is present for the inter-stage.

Additionally, the second-stage of the rocket is a wildly unconventional design, consistently tapering its propellant tanks up to the attached fairing from a widest point of 4.2 meters. The engine powering it, 'Andromeda', is also a 24-chamber aerospike run by a single set of turbopumps, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

Now, citing the future needs of the Western launch market, Stoke Space has unveiled plans for a larger launch vehicle simply dubbed 'Block 2' at the moment. In attached vague graphics, the new rocket is about twice the height of the original Nova, called 'Pathfinder' moving forward, with a modest increase in diameter to more than 4.5 meters. Less vaguely defined is that the second-stage taper is gone and a voluminous 5-meter diameter payload fairing has been introduced.

In its announcement, Stoke Space details that 'Block 2' is designed to carry up to 15,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit while reusing both its first and second stages, a major increase over 'Pathfinder's 2,500 kilograms. Both of the now larger stages keep the same engines, with the first-stage using fourteen 'Zenith' engines while the second-stage has an improved 'Andromeda' powered by more turbopumps, introducing redundancy as well.

But why reveal a new larger launch vehicle now, especially with 'Pathfinder' yet to fly? Speaking on the Valley of Depth Podcast, Stoke Space Chief Executive Officer Andy Lapsa said that a bigger rocket enables the company to properly serve U.S. government needs, which they are contracted for, planned telecommunication constellations, and most standard satellite sizes. Adding to that, the company's announcement states:

"[Satellite] capacity per flight is one variable in the [launch rate] equation; flight frequency is the other. It’s not enough to just get to orbit. The vehicles of tomorrow need to fly again and again with aircraft-like frequency to meet the ambition of the industry. Nova Block 2 is designed with this in mind ... [able to] replenish constellations in bulk, often one orbital plane at a time, while giving customers greater control over schedule and destination."

As of September 2026, Stoke Space has no proposed internal payloads to eat into their launch rate, as SpaceX has to do with Starlink. Lapsa believes that there is enough demand and satellites in the Western market to fly 'Block 2' hundreds of times per year.

Stoke Space's current manufacturing capabilities, according to Lapsa, are currently 'oversized' for their smaller launch vehicle, which will allow them to move to 'Block 2' without a burdensome amount of spending. He also suggested that the company has raised more capital than they have needed to spend.

At present, Nova 'Pathfinder' is set to debut in early 2027 ahead of multiple flights over the next few years. Meanwhile, work on 'Block 2' will be underway for a first launch in 2029.

The introduction of 'Block 2' to operational flight later this decade does not signal the end of missions for 'Pathfinder' quite yet, with the company writing:

"We see value in having more than one way to serve the market, since some missions are particularly well suited to the Pathfinder configuration. Its longer-term flight cadence will be informed by what we learn over the next two years and by the needs of our customers."

Increased capital too

On the same day as unveiling a larger launch vehicle, September 8th, Stoke Space announced that it has completed its Series E funding round, raising 1 billion United States Dollars. The capital raised is planned to be used for expanding production capacity and capabilities, supporting infrastructure needed to enable regular reflights of reusable rocket stages, alongside allowing for the advancement of core technologies required for 'Block 2'.

Stoke Space says the funding round had new and returning investors, with a handful of highly active venture capital firms participating. Commenting on the rationale for contributing to the Series E, co-leading Point72 Ventures' Chris Morals shared:

"Stoke is pursuing what we see as one of the most important opportunities in space transportation: making launch fully reusable, reliable, and scalable. Having supported Stoke through multiple stages of its growth, we believe this company has demonstrated both the exceptional technical progress and the ambition to build a launch system capable of serving the market at industrial scale."

Earlier this year in February, Stoke Space completed an 860 million United States Dollar Series D round in October 2025, following on from a 260 million Series C at the start of 2025. Since their founding in May 2020, Stoke Space has raised approximately 2.3 billion United States Dollars.