Stoke Space wins access toward a second Nova pad at Cape Canaveral
From the Space digest for Nov 6, 2026
What happened: Stoke Space has been granted Right of Entry by Space Launch Delta 45 to property north of its rebuilt Space Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — the location of the old LC-15 — for the engineering studies, environmental assessments and site surveys needed to develop a second launch site for its Nova rocket. The company says the northern site would extend the fast-turnaround launch-and-recovery capability of SLC-14, the historic pad of John Glenn's 1962 Friendship 7 flight, which Stoke rebuilt over roughly a year and is preparing to receive hardware: Nova Pathfinder, the first orbital configuration targeting launch around mid-2027, had its first flight booster shipped from Stoke's Washington state facilities on November 4, awaiting final mating at the Cape before extensive rocket and pad testing. The proposed second pad is intended to support high-cadence operations once Nova Block 2 — the larger, fully reusable 15-ton-to-orbit configuration unveiled in September, planned for a first flight in 2029 — enters service. No construction timetable was announced, and Space Launch Delta 45 commander Col. Brian Chatman called the ground a sign of the Eastern Range "supporting partners bringing more launch capability" to the Space Coast.
What's genuinely new: the formal Right of Entry — the first step toward opening additional Eastern Range property for fully and rapidly reusable operations, tied specifically to a second Nova pad, and a dated flight-hardware milestone with the first Pathfinder booster's November 4 shipment toward the Cape.
Watch: Pathfinder hardware arrival and checkout at SLC-14 against the mid-2027 launch target, and any construction timetable for the LC-15 site once the studies conclude.
Links: NASASpaceflight · Nov 6, 4:19 PM ET