Stoke Space says the second stage for its Nova Pathfinder rocket has made its final trip out of the company’s factory and arrived at its Moses Lake test site. The hardware is scheduled to undergo cryogenic proof testing before a hotfire campaign with its Andromeda engine, followed by shipment to Cape Canaveral.
The Oct. 14 announcement describes those tests as the next step; it does not say the stage has passed them.
What Andromeda is designed to do
Stoke describes Andromeda 2 as an upper-stage engine built around 24 thrusters integrated into the base of the vehicle. Liquid hydrogen circulates through an actively cooled metallic heat shield that the company designed to protect Stage 2 during atmospheric re-entry.
The engine uses separate nozzle modes for vacuum operation and atmospheric propulsive landing. Stoke says the outboard thruster layout also allows Andromeda to ignite while the two stages remain attached, a technique known as hot staging.
The road to Nova’s first orbital flight
The company’s September mission update called Nova Pathfinder its first orbital configuration and targeted an initial flight for early 2027 from Space Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Stoke has framed Flight 1 as a data-gathering mission. Before the stage heads to Florida, the company still plans to complete the Moses Lake proof and hotfire campaign.
