Rocket

A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. Often the term rocket is also used to mean a rocket engine.

Future

• Nuclear thermal rockets have also been developed, but never deployed, they are particularly promising for interplanetary use because of their high efficiency.
• Neofuel - Nuclear/solar steam rockets for interplanetary use, using abundant extraterrestrial ice.
• Nuclear pulse propulsion rocket concepts give very high thrust and exhaust velocities.

Another class of rocket-like thrusters in increasingly common use are ion drives, which use electrical rather than chemical energy to accelerate their reaction mass.

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