When you think of a rocket, you may recall images of the Saturn V rockets, which carried astronauts to the Lunar Surface. However, rockets serve several different purposes apart from traveling to Space.

In recent times, the vast majority of the public and media’s attention has centered around orbital rockets carrying a variety of satellites, exploratory spacecraft, and astronauts to space. Rocket and rocket technology has several different uses, though.

In fact, the first use of rockets dates back centuries before the first launch vehicle ever reached the edge of space. Many modern rockets are still used for the purpose they were initially designed for, and some of them have very little to do with space exploration.

Before examining the different uses of rockets in more detail, one first needs to define what exactly a rocket is and how it functions:

Definition Of A Rocket And How It Functions

A rocket is a projectile that is propelled forward when chemical compounds are combusted in a rocket engine to produce hot gases, which are blown at high velocities through its nozzle, producing thrust that pushes the vehicle forward.

It operates on Newton’s third law of motion, which states: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Essentially, this means that when two forces interact with each other, one force’s reaction is equal but in the opposite direction of the force applied upon it. The way a rocket works is the perfect example of this law in practice.

Rocket Cross Section
Cross section of a typical liquid propellant rocket.

A rocket typically works by combining its fuel with an oxidizer in the rocket’s combustion chamber, where it is burned to produce hot gases, which are pushed out the vehicle’s nozzle at supersonic speeds. This, in turn, propels the rocket forward.

(Learn more about how a rocket works and the difference between liquid and solid propellant rockets in this article.)

Rocket can be classified into six primary categories according to their intended use:

  1. Fireworks
  2. Scientific Research
  3. Safety Mechanisms
  4. Military Weapons
  5. Orbital Launch Vehicles
  6. JATO / RATO

Although they serve different purposes, all five rocket types work on the same principle of rocket propulsion. To better understand the intended use of each type of rocket, one needs to examine each category in more detail:

1) Fireworks

Fireworks Display

Rockets used for entertainment during fireworks displays date back as far as the Sung Dynasty in China, around 960 – 1279 AD. It is also the earliest form of rocket propulsion in recorded history.

It was a basic solid-fueled rocket that typically consisted of a container containing gunpowder (black powder) mounted on a thin bamboo splint, which helped to stabilize the vehicle. A small fuse was used to ignite the “fuel,” which launched the rocket into the air.

Modern fireworks still use the same principles as their early counterparts, and modern skyrockets used during these displays are also mounted on a thin stick with a solid propellant and fuse.

The nose cones (or payload) of modern skyrockets contain the special effects one sees during a fireworks display, which may take the form of multicolored flashes, whistling sounds, or crackles. Compounds are sometimes mixed with the propellant for visual effects.

Due to their danger, rockets for fireworks displays are now banned in many countries, including Canada and Norway, and strictly regulated in others.

2) Scientific Research

Rockets also play a crucial role in scientific research and meteorology through sounding rockets. Monitoring upper atmospheric conditions is crucial for establishing climate patterns and making weather forecasts.

Unfortunately, satellites orbit the planet at a minimum altitude of approximately 200 km (124 miles), while weather balloons can only reach a maximum altitude of roughly 40 km (25 miles). The region of the atmosphere between these heights is difficult to monitor.

And this is where sounding rockets come into play. It can carry a payload up to an altitude of approximately 45 – 150 km (30 – 93 miles) above the planet’s surface, from where it can conduct dedicated experiments or take atmospheric measurements.

(Some advanced sounding rockets are multi-stage rockets that can reach altitudes that far exceed the height at which most satellites orbit the Earth. For example, NASA’s Black Brant XII is a four-stage rocket that can reach an altitude of 1 500 kilometers or 932 miles).

Black Brant XII Sounding Rocket
A Black Brant XII Sounding Rocket from NASA lifts off, carrying scientific equipment into the upper atmosphere.

Sounding rockets are used for several different purposes, from testing instruments and materials that will be used in satellites or other spacecraft, gathering astronomical data, to taking atmospheric measurements.

3) Safety Mechanisms

Although they weren’t initially intended for this purpose, rockets also play a role in providing safety mechanisms for the aviation and space industry.

The ejection seats used in fighter aircraft and the Launch Escape System used in crewed space launch systems are the best two examples of these mechanisms in practice. In both cases, rockets are used to lift the vehicles’ occupants to safety in case of an emergency.

In fighter aircraft, an ejection seat is used to lift a pilot to safety once an aircraft becomes unrecoverable or severely crippled. A solid rocket booster is situated under the pilot’s seat.

During an emergency, the pilot pulls the lever activating the ejection mechanism, which jettisons the aircraft’s canopy away while activating the rocket underneath the seat. The seat is trusted away from the vehicle in milliseconds, after which a drogue parachute deploys.

(Depending on the aircraft’s height during ejection, the drogue parachute deploys the main parachute immediately or at a safe altitude after ejection. At the same time, the seat falls away, allowing the pilot to perform a safe landing.)

An orbital rocket uses a Launch Scape System (LES) to lift the crew away from the rest of the vehicle during a catastrophic failure. The Saturn V rocket used small rockets situated inside a tower on top of the rocket, which could rapidly lift the astronauts to safety.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Launch Escape System in action.

(The Russian Soyuz rocket uses a similar system, while SpaceX uses rocket boosters integrated into the Crew Dragon Capsule to perform the same function.)

4) Military Weapons

During the start of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the majority of launch vehicles used during the early years were converted to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

Like many significant advances in engineering and technology, the biggest progress made in rocket engineering directly resulted from competition between warring nations. The advanced missile systems of the time were a direct result of the Cold War.

Russian RT 2PM2 Topol M ICBM
A Russian RT 2PM2 Topol M Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is one example of a modern rocket-powered defense system.

For example, the Delta and Atlas families of orbital launch vehicles started off as Thor and SM-65 Atlas ballistic missiles, respectively, during the 1950s and 1960s. Similarly, the Soviet Sputnik rocket family was derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

Today, rocket-powered missile systems form the backbone of any sovereign nation. From Nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems to Air-To-Ground, Surface-To-Air, and even shoulder-mounted grenade launchers, all rely on rocket power to function.

5) Orbital Launch Vehicles

Orbital launch vehicles, or rockets that can reach Low Earth Orbit and beyond, are still the most widely publicized and well-known type of rocket. With the advent of the internet, most launches are now live-streamed and gaining an ever-increasing following.

The vast majority of rockets are used to put a type of satellite into orbit. The satellites vary from scientific craft monitoring conditions in the Earth’s atmosphere and on its surface to reconnaissance satellites, communications satellites, and Global Positioning Systems.

Some launch vehicles are also human-rated, meaning they are certified to carry humans to space. Rockets routinely carry astronauts to the International Space Station, and more recently, also started transporting civilians into orbit as part of commercial space programs.

NASA is also looking to return humans to the Moon with its Artemis Program, while SpaceX is even more ambitious with its Starship launch vehicle, striving to carry the first human to the surface of Mars.

Rockets are also used to launch spacecraft that explore our solar system and Space beyond it. Earlier examples include the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft launched in the 1970s and, more recently, the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited and studied Saturn in detail.

6) JATO / RATO

Often, solid rocket boosters are added to a rocket to increase its payload capacity by adding more thrust to the launch vehicle, allowing it to carry heavier loads or reach higher orbits.

(Learn more about what exactly solid rocket boosters are, their advantages, as well as their potential dangers in this article.)

A similar principle is sometimes applied to assist aircraft during takeoff. Adding multiple small solid rocket boosters to the wings or rear fuselage of an otherwise overloaded aircraft will allow the plane to get airborne in time successfully.

C 130 Hercules JATO System
A C-130 Hercules aircraft illustrates the implementation of a JATO system during take-off.

The system used during this maneuver is called JATO (Jet-Assisted Take-Off) or RATO (Rocket-Assisted Take-Off) and was experimented with as early as the 1920s when Germany used solid rockets to boost gliders into the air.

It was also used during the early years of jet-propelled aircraft to assist underperforming jet engines during take-off. The system could also be utilized when take-off on a very short airfield requires aircraft to become airborne in a very short amount of time.

Improvements in aircraft technology with more powerful engines being produced reduced the need for JATO systems, and it is currently only used for special operations and mostly fitted to military aircraft.

Conclusion

As this article clearly illustrated, although rockets are primarily known as orbital launch vehicles, they have numerous other uses. And some of the fields in which they are implemented are far removed from space exploration.

Whatever their use, it is clear that rocket technology has a wide reach and impacts every single person on the planet to some extent, either directly or indirectly.

This article was originally published on headedforspace.com. If it is now published on any other site, it was done without permission from the copyright owner.

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