Rocket propulsion

Rocket propulsion produces thrust by expelling propellant from a vehicle. Because the vehicle carries both fuel and oxidizer when needed, it can operate without atmospheric oxygen.

Newton's third law: A law of motion stating that interacting bodies exert equal and opposite forces on each other. Exhaust pushed backward exerts an opposing force on the rocket.
Rocket engine: A propulsion device that generates thrust by accelerating exhaust. Rocket propulsion is the operating principle shared by these engines.
Launch vehicle: A rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry payloads from Earth into space. It uses high thrust to overcome gravity and atmospheric drag during ascent.
Jet engine: An air-breathing engine that produces thrust by accelerating combustion products and atmospheric air. Unlike a rocket, it relies on oxygen drawn from the surrounding atmosphere.
Rocket equation: The equation relating a rocket's change in velocity to its exhaust velocity and the ratio of its initial and final masses. It quantifies how propellant consumption and exhaust speed determine attainable velocity.
Propellant: A material expelled by a propulsion system to produce thrust. Its mass and properties determine both thrust and how long a rocket can burn.
Spacecraft propulsion: Systems that change a spacecraft's velocity or orientation after launch. Rocket engines maneuver spacecraft where air-breathing propulsion cannot operate.
Air-breathing propulsion: Propulsion that uses atmospheric air as part of the working mass or oxidizer supply. It avoids carrying all reaction mass or oxidizer, but requires an atmosphere.
Specific impulse: A measure of rocket-engine efficiency expressed as thrust per unit weight flow of propellant. It compares how effectively different engines turn propellant into impulse.
Chemical rocket: A rocket engine that uses chemical reactions to heat and expel propellant. Chemical energy is the dominant source of launch-vehicle thrust.

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