Rockets 101: How Exactly Do Rockets Work?

Ever wondered how rockets work? Then here is a basic overview for your delectation.

Human beings have been using controlled explosions to propel objects for many centuries. Often called rockets, today these devices are commonly used as fireworks, signal flares, weapons of war and for space exploration.

But how do they actually work? Let’s take a very brief look.

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive guide as rocket science is, after all, «rocket science.»

How exactly do rockets work?

You might be tempted to think of rockets acting by simply «pushing themselves through the air.» But since rockets can also operate perfectly well in the vacuum of space, this isn’t really what is going on.

They operate, as previously mentioned, using the principle of Newton’s Third Law of Motion, often stated as ‘for every action, there is an equal and opposit reaction’. Rockets, therefore, actually work by taking advantage of momentum — the power that a moving object has.

All things being equal, with no outside forces, a group of objects’ combined momentum must stay constant over time. This is encapsulated in Newton’s famous Third Law of Motion.

To visualize this, imagine standing on a skateboard while holding a basketball in your hands.

If you were to throw the basketball in one direction, you (and the skateboard) would roll in the opposite direction with the same amount of force. The more force exerted in throwing the ball, the more force will propel the skateboard in the opposite direction.

Rockets work in much the same way. By expelling hot exhaust from one end of the rocket, the rocket is propelled in the opposite direction — just like in the skateboard example.

Car or airplane engines, including jet engines, need air to work (well, they need the oxygen it contains), and for this reason, they cannot operate in the vacuum of space. Rockets, on the other hand, work perfectly well in space.

Unlike combustion or jet engines, rockets carry oxidizers with them. Just like the fuel, these can be in either solid, liquid or hybrid form (more on these later).

The oxidizer and fuel are mixed in the rocket’s combustion chamber and the exhaust gases are expelled at high speed from the rear of the rocket. All of this is done in the absence of air — in fact, unlike cars and airplances, rockets do not have any air intakes.

The molecules of the rocket’s exhaust are individually very small, but they exit the rocket’s nozzle very fast (giving them a great deal of momentum). Enough, in fact, to provide a multi-ton object with the momentum it needs to escape Earth’s gravity.

What are the main parts of a rocket?

Most modern rockets consist of at least two stages. These are sections of the rocket that are stacked one on top of each other in a cylindrical shell (aka serial staging).

An example of this form of rocket staging is NASA’s Saturn V series.

Other types of rockets use parallel staging. In this case, smaller first stages are strapped to the body of a central «sustainer» rocket. Rockets like NASA’s Titan III’s and Delta II’s use this kind of staging.

Each stage has its own set of engines, which vary in number depending on the design. For example, the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has nine engines, whereas Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket has two.

The job of the first stage is to get the rocket out of the lower atmosphere. There may or may not be extra side boosters to help out, too.

Because this initial stage must carry the weight of the entire rocket (with payload and unspent fuel), it is usually the biggest and most powerful section.

As the rocket accelerates, it initially encounters an increase in air resistance. But as it moves higher, the atmosphere becomes thinner and the air resistance lessens.

This means that the stress experienced by the rocket during a typical launch rises initially, to a peak, and then falls back down. The peak pressure is known as max q.

For the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, max q is usually experienced at between 80 and 90 seconds of a launch, at an altitude of between seven (11 km) to nine miles (14.5 km).

Once the first stage has completed its duty, rockets usually drop that section and ignite their second stage. The second stage has less work to do (because it has less mass to move) and has the advantage of having a thinner atmosphere to contend with.

For this reason, the second stage often only consists of a single-engine. Most rockets will also jettison their fairings at this stage too (this is pointed cap at the rocket’s tip that protects the payload).

In the past, discarded lower sections of the rocket would simply burn up in the atmosphere. But starting in around the 1980s, engineers began designing these sections to be recoverable and reusable.

Private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have taken this principle further and have designed them to be able to return to Earth and land themselves. This is beneficial, as the more parts that can be reused, the cheaper rocket launches can become.

Which fuel is used in a rocket?

Modern rockets tend to use either liquid, solid or hybrid fuels. Liquid forms of fuel tend to be classified as petroleum (like kerosene), cryogens (like liquid hydrogen), or hypergolics (like hydrazine).

In some cases, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or nitrous oxides can also be used.

Solid propellants tend to come in two forms: homogenous and composite. Both are very dense, stable at room temp and are easily stored.

The former can be either a simple base (like nitrocellulose) or a double base (like a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine). Composite solid propellants, on the other hand, use a crystallized or finely ground mineral salt as the oxidizer.

In most cases, the actual fuel tends to be aluminum based. The fuel and oxidizer are usually held together with a polymeric binder that is also consumed during combustion.

How do rocket launch pads work?

Launchpads, as the name suggests, are platforms from which rockets are launched. They tend to form part of a larger complex, facility, or spaceport.

A typical launchpad will consist of a pad or launch mount, which will usually be a metal structure that supports the rocket in an upright position prior to blastoff. These structures will have umbilical cables that fuel the rocket and provide coolant prior to launch, amongst other functions.

They will also tend to have lightning rods to protect the rocket during lightning storms.

Launch complexes will vary in design, depending on the rocket’s design and the operator’s needs. For example, the NASA Kennedy Space Center designed the Space Shuttle to attach vertically to a rocket and move it to the launch pad on a massive tank-like vehicle called a «Crawler.»

In Russia, rockets were assembled and transported horizontally to the launch pad before being lifted upright in situ.

[Solved] Rocket League Won’t Launch

If your Rocket League won’t launch when you double-click the game, this guide is written for you.

Last Updated: 4 months ago

It is really upset when you want to play Rocket League but it won’t launch! This can be very frustrating. It’s worse than having a bad game experience because they don’t have a chance to play.

But don’t worry, try the solutions below and you can enjoy your game.

Well, there’s one thing you should do first is to make sure your Windows Operating system is up to date and meet the minimum requirements.

Minimum System Requirement of Rocket League

Supported OS	Windows 7 or newer
Processor	2.4 GHz Dual core
RAM	2 GB
Video Card	NVIDIA GTX 260 or ATI 4850
Hard Drive	7 GB

Recommended System Requirement of Rocket League

Supported OS	Windows 7 or newer
Processor	2.5+ GHz Quad core
RAM	4 GB
Video Card	NVIDIA GTX 660 or better, ATI 7950 or better
Hard Drive	7 GB

Try these fixes:

There’re 6 fixes that have helped many gamers solve their problems. You don’t have to try them all; just work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.

1. Rename your Rocket League folder
2. Run as administrator
3. Verify game files (Steam users only)
4. Disable Overlay feature (Steam users only)
5. Change compatibility mode
6. Update your graphics card driver
7. Delete d3d9.dll file

Fix 1: Rename your Rocket League folder

According to users, this easy fix would help you solve the problem.

1. Open File Explorer and go to Documents.
2. Open My Games folder.
3. Find your Rocket League file and rename it to Rocket League old.
4. Launch Rocket League. It will create a new one and launch normally.

Note: Make sure your documents folder isn’t on your OneDrive. If you’ve linked your Documents folder from the OneDrive account, you need to unlink it first. Otherwise, it would cause the issue.

Fix 2: Run as administrator

The privilege issue might be the reason for this problem. With high integrity access, Rocket League can make full use of its features, running its function properly. So run the game as an administrator to see if this fixes your issue.

1. Navigate to the game installation folder. (If you can’t find it, you can go to Steam, right-click on the game > Properties > Local Files > Browse local files.)
2. Right-click on Rocket League Launcher.exe and click Properties.
3. Click Compatibility tab and check Run as Administrator.
   
4. Click Apply > OK.
5. Run the game and check the issue is solved or not.

Fix 3: Verify game files (Steam users only)

This fix will check game files and verify them if they are right. What else, it will download and repair required files. If the Rocket League won’t launch issue is caused by corrupted game files, this fix could help you fix it.

1. Open the Steam client and navigate to the LIBRARY tab, then right-click on Rocket League and select Properties.
   
2. Click the LOCAL FILES tab, then click VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE…. After that, click CLOSE.
   
3. Launch Rocket League to check.

Fix 4: Disable Overlay feature (Steam users only)

Sometimes the Steam Overlay feature can be the reason for troubles. So you can disable these option to see whether it helps or not.

1. In the Steam client, click the Steam button in the topper left corner and click Settings.
   
2. Choose the In-Game tab, uncheck these boxes to disable the Overlay options. Then click OK.
   
3. Run the game to check.

Fix 5: Change compatibility mode

Run Rocket League Launcher in compatibility mode is a way to solve many problems. This Rocket League won’t launch problem may be caused by the incompatibility with the system. So change the compatibility mode may help you solve the issue.

1. Navigate to Rocket League saving folder.
2. Right-click on Rocket League Launcher and click Properties.
3. In the Compatibility tab, click Run this program in compatibility mode for. Then choose the system in the drop-down menu.
   
4. Click OK then run Rocket League to check.

If this fix doesn’t help, don’t worry, move to the next one.

Fix 6: Update your graphics card driver

It is very important to update your graphics card drivers. Windows 10 doesn’t always give you the latest version. But with outdated or wrong drivers, you may encounter Rocket League won’t launch issue. So it’s really important to keep your drivers updating to get better gaming experience.

There are two ways you can update your driver: manually and automatically.

Option 1 – Manually– You’ll need some computer skills and patience to update your drivers this way, because you need to find exactly the right the driver online, download it and install it step by step.

Option 2 – Automatically (Recommended)– This is the quickest and easiest option. It’s all done with just a couple of mouse clicks – easy even if you’re a computer newbie.

Option 1 – Download and install the driver manually

You can download graphics drivers the manufacturer official website. Search for the model you have and find the correct driver that suits your specific operating system. Then download the driver manually.

Option 2 – Automatically update drivers

If you don’t have time or patience to manually update your graphics drivers, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

1. Downloadand install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
   
3. Click the Update button next to the flagged driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).
   Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
   
4. Relaunch the game and check whether the problem is resolved or not.

Fix 7: Delete d3d9.dll file

If the file d3d9.dll was wrongly put in the game folder, Rocket League may have won’t launch the issue. You can fix the issue by simply deleting this file.

1. Navigate to the Rocket League saving folder. (If you can’t find it, you can go to Steam, right-click on the game >Properties >Local Files >Browse local files.)
2. Double click Binaries > Win 32. You’ll see d3d9.dll in this folder.
3. Right-click on d3d9.dll and click Delete.
4. Run Rocket League to check.

We hope you find the above information helpful. And if you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, feel free to leave a comment below.