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Types of Rocket Engines Explained

A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants that undergo combustion, producing hot gas which is ejected from the rocket at high speed, generating thrust according to Newton's third law. Most rocket engines combust chemical propellants to power the engine, but some use other methods like cold gas or nuclear thermal reactions. Rocket engines carry their own oxidizer and can operate in a vacuum, allowing them to propel spacecraft and missiles. While lightweight and providing high thrust, rocket engines are less fuel efficient than other jet engines.

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36 views1 page

Types of Rocket Engines Explained

A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants that undergo combustion, producing hot gas which is ejected from the rocket at high speed, generating thrust according to Newton's third law. Most rocket engines combust chemical propellants to power the engine, but some use other methods like cold gas or nuclear thermal reactions. Rocket engines carry their own oxidizer and can operate in a vacuum, allowing them to propel spacecraft and missiles. While lightweight and providing high thrust, rocket engines are less fuel efficient than other jet engines.

Uploaded by

Leo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as reaction mass for forming a high-speed

propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines,
producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law. Most rocket engines use
the combustion of reactive chemicals to supply the necessary energy, but non-combusting
forms such as cold gas thrusters and nuclear thermal rockets also exist. Vehicles propelled
by rocket engines are commonly called rockets. Rocket vehicles carry their own oxidizer,
unlike most combustion engines, so rocket engines can be used in a vacuum to
propel spacecraft and ballistic missiles.[citation needed]
Compared to other types of jet engines, rocket engines are the lightest and have the highest
thrust, but are the least propellant-efficient (they have the lowest specific impulse). The
ideal exhaust is hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, but chemical rockets produce a mix
of heavier species, reducing the exhaust velocity.[citation needed]
Rocket engines become more efficient at high speeds, due to the Oberth effect.[1]

Contents

TypesEdit

Here, "rocket" is used as an abbreviation for "rocket engine".

Thermal rockets use an inert propellant, heated by electricity (electrothermal propulsion)


or a nuclear reactor (nuclear thermal rocket).
Chemical rockets are powered by exothermic reduction-oxidation chemical reactions of
the propellant:
 Solid-fuel rockets (or solid-propellant rockets or motors) are chemical rockets which use
propellant in a solid phase.
 Liquid-propellant rockets use one or more propellants in a liquid state fed from tanks.
 Hybrid rockets use a solid propellant in the combustion chamber, to which a second liquid or
gas oxidizer or propellant is added to permit combustion.
 Monopropellant rockets use a single propellant decomposed by a catalyst. The most common
monopropellants are hydrazine and hydrogen peroxide.

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