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A rocket (from Italian: rocchetto, lit. 'bobbin/spool') is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within the vehicle; therefore a rocket can fly in the vacuum of space. Rockets work more efficiently in a vacuum and incur a loss of thrust due to the opposing pressure of the atmosphere.

Multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations. To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary reaction engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin, or gravity.

Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China. Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age, including setting foot on the Moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, missiles and other weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight, and space exploration.

Chemical rockets are the most common type of high power rocket, typically creating a high speed exhaust by the combustion of fuel with an oxidizer. The stored propellant can be a simple pressurized gas or a single liquid fuel that disassociates in the presence of a catalyst (monopropellant), two liquids that spontaneously react on contact (hypergolic propellants), two liquids that must be ignited to react (like kerosene (RP1) and liquid oxygen, used in most liquid-propellant rockets), a solid combination of fuel with oxidizer (solid fuel), or solid fuel with liquid or gaseous oxidizer (hybrid propellant system). Chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks. (Full article...)

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Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian-Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States. The company ownership is evenly split between the Norwegian government (represented by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries) and the Finnish defence company Patria. The company has its headquarters in Raufoss, Norway.

The company has four business units: Small and Medium Caliber Ammunition, Large Caliber Systems, Aerospace Propulsion, and Commercial Ammunition. (Full article...)

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In the news

27 July 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: Twelve people, all children, are killed in rocket strikes on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel claims that Hezbollah is responsible for the attack, but Hezbollah denies any involvement. (Reuters)
9 July 2024 – Israel–Hamas war: Hezbollah launches dozens of rockets at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria, killing two Israelis. (The Jerusalem Post)
4 July 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: Hezbollah launches at least 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at Israeli territory and threatens to expand its targeting range, in retaliation for the killing of Mohammed Nasser, a top Hezbollah commander. (Reuters)
3 July 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: Hezbollah launches a barrage of at least 100 Katyusha rockets, towards northern Israel, targeting Israeli military positions, in retaliation for the killing of Nasser. (Al Jazeera)
30 June 2024 –: A Chinese Tianlong-3 rocket stage is accidentally launched during a static fire test in Gongyi, Henan, China, causing it to crash and explode. No casualties are reported. (CNN)

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The following are images from various rocketry-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The four expansion regimes of a de Laval nozzle:• under-expanded• perfectly expanded• over-expanded• grossly over-expanded (from Rocket engine)
Image 2Rocket thrust is caused by pressures acting in the combustion chamber and nozzle. From Newton's third law, equal and opposite pressures act on the exhaust, and this accelerates it to high speeds. (from Rocket engine)
Image 3A Tomahawk cruise missile in flight (from Missile)
Image 4A German V-2 rocket on a Meillerwagen. (from History of rockets)
Image 5RS-68 being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center (from Rocket engine)
Image 6An illustration of fire arrow launchers as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). The launcher is constructed using basketry. (from History of rockets)
Image 7Rockets carrying the Space Shuttle Discovery into Earth orbit in 2007 (from History of rockets)
Image 8Von Braun's rocket team in 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 9Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1909). (from History of rockets)
Image 10Simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket:
1. Solid fuel–oxidiser mixture (propellant) packed into casing
2. Igniter initiates propellant combustion.
3. Central hole in propellant acts as the combustion chamber.
4. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
5. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 11Rocket vehicle mechanical efficiency as a function of vehicle instantaneous speed divided by effective exhaust speed. These percentages need to be multiplied by internal engine efficiency to get overall efficiency. (from Rocket engine)
Image 12Simplified diagram of a liquid-fuel rocket:
1. Liquid fuel tank
2. Liquid oxidiser tank
3. Pumps feed fuel and oxidiser under high pressure.
4. Combustion chamber mixes and burns the propellants.
5. Exhaust nozzle expands and accelerates the gas jet to produce thrust.
6. Exhaust exits nozzle.
(from Rocket engine)
Image 13Typical ballistic missile sequence:
- 1. Launches by firing motor1(A)
- 2. Stage1 drops, motor2(B) ignites & shroud(E) ejects
- 3. Motor3(C) ignites and separates
- 4. Stage3 terminates and post-boost vehicle(D) separates
- 5. Vehicle maneuvers itself and prepares re-entry vehicle (RV)
- 6. RV with decoys and chaffs deploys
- 7. RV re-enters the atmosphere
- 8. Warhead(s) detonate on target
(from Missile)
Image 14French Diamant rocket, the second French rocket program, developed from 1961 (from History of rockets)
Image 15A simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket.
1. A propellant is packed with a hole in the middle
2. An igniter combusts the propellant
3. The hole acts as a combustion chamber
4. The hot exhaust is choked at the throat
5. Exhaust exits the rocket
(from Missile)
Image 16Layout of a V-2 rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 17A "long serpent enemy breaking" fire arrow launcher as depicted in the Wubei Zhi (17th century). It carries 32 medium small poisoned rockets and comes with a sling to carry on the back. (from History of rockets)
Image 18Robert Goddard (from History of rockets)
Image 19Viking 5C rocket engine used on Ariane 1 through Ariane 4 (from Rocket engine)
Image 20Armadillo Aerospace's quad vehicle showing visible banding (shock diamonds) in the exhaust jet (from Rocket engine)
Image 21Opel RAK.1 - World's first public manned flight of a rocket plane on September 30, 1929. (from History of rockets)
Image 22Robert Goddard and the first liquid-fueled rocket. (from History of rockets)
Image 23Rocket carts from the Wubei Zhi (17th century) (from History of rockets)
Image 24A V-1 flying bomb, amongst the first guided missiles (from Missile)
Image 25Robert Anderson suggests using metal for rocket casing (from History of rockets)
Image 26The Congreve rocket (from History of rockets)
Image 27A semi-active missile homing system (from Missile)
Image 28A battery of Katyusha launchers fires at German forces during the Battle of Stalingrad, 6 October 1942 (from History of rockets)