Terms in rocket engineering — propulsion, vehicle design, and operations.
Propulsion
- Specific Impulse — thrust per unit propellant flow rate, the key efficiency metric
- Rocket Equation — the Tsiolkovsky equation relating delta-v to mass ratio and exhaust velocity
- Delta-v — the total velocity change a mission requires
- Combustion Chamber — where propellants mix and burn
- Gimbal — the mechanism for vectoring engine thrust
Vehicle design
- Staging — discarding mass to improve mass ratio during ascent
- Mass Ratio — initial to final mass, governing achievable delta-v
- Propellant Mass Fraction — the proportion of vehicle mass that is propellant
- Ullage — the gas space above liquid propellant in a tank
Operations
- Launch Window — the time period during which a launch can achieve its target orbit
- Gravity Turn — the trajectory that minimizes gravity losses during ascent