Types of Rocket Propulsion

In general, there are several types of rocket propulsion systems, and each has a distinct way of producing thrust. These are a few typical kinds:

• Chemical Propulsion
• Electric Propulsion
• Nuclear Propulsion
• Hybrid Rocket
• Solar Sail Propulsion

Chemical Propulsion

The chemical propulsion of rocket uses chemicals as fuel to propel the rocket. This can be of following two types depending on the nature of fuel used.

Liquid propellant rockets: These rockets have separate tanks that are used to store the liquid fuel and oxidizer. To create thrust, the propellants are combined and burned in a combustion chamber. A prime example is the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo program.

Solid Propellant Rockets: Solid rockets are powered by a single solid propellant mixture that is enclosed in a casing. This mixture is usually made up of fuel and oxidizer. The propellant burns when it is ignited, producing thrust. Solid rockets, such as the Solid Rocket Boosters of the Space Shuttle, are frequently used as boosters for space launch vehicles.

Electric Propulsion

Electric Propulsion uses ions to propel the rocket. They are of following types:

Ion thrusters: Ion thrusters accelerate charged particles called ions using electric fields in order to produce thrust. They can operate for extended periods of time and have low thrust, which makes them appropriate for deep space missions. They were employed in Deep Space 1 and Dawn, among other missions.

Hall Effect Thrusters: These thrusters ionize propellant gas by trapping electrons in a magnetic field. An electric field is then used to accelerate the ions in order to create thrust. They are employed in satellites for orbit correction and station-keeping.

Nuclear Propulsion

Nuclear Thermal Rockets: In these rockets, a propellant (like hydrogen) is heated to extremely high temperatures in a nuclear reactor. The heated propellant then expands through a nozzle to produce thrust. They offer a potentially high specific impulse and could facilitate faster interplanetary travel, even though they have not been used in space missions yet.

Nuclear Electric Propulsion: In this mode of propulsion, energy is produced by a nuclear reactor and utilized to power electric propulsion devices such as plasma engines or ion thrusters. We are currently developing this concept for possible missions in the future.

Hybrid Rockets

Hybrid rockets integrate aspects of both solid and liquid propulsion. Typically, one component of the propellant is solid (such as the fuel), while the other is a liquid or gaseous oxidizer. Hybrid rockets offer some of the simplicity of solid rockets with some of the flexibility of liquid rockets.

Solar Sail Propulsion

Solar Sails: To obtain momentum from sunlight, solar sail spacecraft use big, light sails. Sunlight photons are reflected off the sail’s reflective surface and produce a slight but steady thrust. Solar sails can produce thrust indefinitely as long as they are exposed to sunlight, despite the extremely low acceleration.

Rocket Propulsion is the process of moving a rocket or spaceship through Earth’s atmosphere or into empty space. It is based on the idea that there is an equal and opposite response to every action, known as Newton’s third rule of motion.

The fundamental idea is to release mass from the rocket’s engine quickly in order to create a push in the opposite direction and move the rocket ahead. This mass can be solid or liquid propellants, or in the case of ion propulsion systems, even ionized gasses. In this article, we will learn in detail about Rocket Propulsion and working of rocket engines.