sustainer engine

A rocket engine that stays with a spacecraft during ascent after one or more booster engines have dropped off. It sustains or steadily increases the spacecraft's speed during ascent. The term is also applied to a rocket engine used on an orbital flider to provide the small amount of thrust now and then required to compensate for the drag imparted by air particles in the upper atmosphere.

Related category

• ROCKET ENGINE TYPES

Also on this site:

Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History

BACK TO TOP