Rocket-powered aircraft

Common card · No. 334401

A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typically for at most a few minutes of powered operation, followed by a gliding flight. Unhindered by the need for oxygen from the atmosphere, they are suitable for very high-altitude flight. They are also capable of delivering much higher acceleration and shorter takeoffs. Many rocket aircraft may be drop launched from transport planes, as take-off from ground may leave them with insufficient time to reach high altitudes. Rockets have been used simply to assist the main propulsion in the form of jet assisted take off (JATO) also known as rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO or RATOG). Not all rocket planes take off in the conventional manner for planes. Some types have been air-launched from another plane, while other types have taken off vertically – nose in the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image No machine-readable author provided. Guinnog assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0