File:RS-68_rocket_engine_test.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
rocket engine
Sign in to saveAlso known as rocket motor
non-air breathing jet engine used to propel a missile or vehicle
A rocket engine is a type of jet engine that doesn't need to breathe air and is designed to propel missiles or vehicles through space or the atmosphere. It matters because it enables spacecraft, satellites, and other vehicles to travel where air-breathing engines cannot operate, such as in the vacuum of space.
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RS-68 being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center Viking 5C rocket engine used on Ariane 1 through Ariane 4
A rocket engine, also known as a rocket motor, is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellant stored inside the rocket. However, non-combusting forms such as cold gas thrusters, nuclear thermal rockets, and ion engines exist. Rocket vehicles carry their own oxidiser, unlike most combustion engines such as pulse engines or jet engines, so rocket engines can be used in a vacuum, and they can achieve great speed, beyond escape velocity if enough delta V is supplied. Vehicles commonly propelled by rocket engines include missiles, artillery shells, ballistic missiles, and spaceships.