Rocket Engine

Rocket Engine

A reaction engine that contains within itself, or carries along with itself, all the substances necessary for its operation or for the consumption or combustion of its fuel, not requiring intake of any outside substance and hence capable of operation in outer space. Also called rocket motor.

Chemical rocket engines contain or carry along their own fuel and oxidizer, usually in either liquid or solid form, and range from simple motors consisting only of a combustion chamber and exhaust nozzle to engines of some complexity incorporating, in addition, fuel and oxygen lines, pumps, cooling system, etc., and sometimes having two or more combustion chambers. Experimental rocket motors have used neutral gas, ionized gas, and plasma as propellants. See liquid-propellant rocket engine, solid-propellant rocket engine, ion rocket, plasma rocket.

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use