Rocket Engines

A restartable pressure-fed engine burning the storable hypergolic combination MMH/N2O4, used on the Ariane 5 EPS storable upper stage for precise orbit insertion.

Blue Origin's LH2/LOX engine — a combustion-tap-off variant (BE-3PM) powers the reusable New Shepard suborbital vehicle, and an upper-stage variant (BE-3U) flies on New Glenn.

Blue Origin's methane/LOX oxidizer-rich staged-combustion engine, which powers both the ULA Vulcan Centaur first stage and Blue Origin's own New Glenn booster.

ISRO's indigenous LH2/LOX cryogenic upper-stage engine, which powers the C25 upper stage of the LVM3 (GSLV Mk III).

The RP-1/LOX engine of the Saturn V first stage — five clustered F-1s remain the most powerful single-chamber liquid engines ever flown, lifting Apollo off the pad.

A LH2/LOX upper-stage engine that powered the cryogenic upper stage (ESC-A) of Ariane 5 and earlier Ariane vehicles.

The restartable LH2/LOX engine of the Saturn V second and third stages and the Saturn IB second stage; its S-IVB restart sent Apollo crews toward the Moon.

A LH2/LOX staged-combustion engine that powers the first stage of Japan's H-IIA and H-IIB launch vehicles.

A large LH2/LOX expander-bleed-cycle engine developed for the first stage of Japan's H3 rocket, chosen for reliability and lower cost.

The hypergolic (Aerozine 50 / N2O4) first- and second-stage engines (LR-87 / LR-91) of the Titan II, III, and IV families, valued for storable-propellant readiness on ICBM-derived launchers.

SpaceX's reusable RP-1/LOX gas-generator engine; nine power each Falcon 9 first stage and twenty-seven power the Falcon Heavy, with a vacuum variant on the upper stage.

The Kuznetsov oxidizer-rich staged-combustion RP-1/LOX engine that powered the Soviet N1 Moon rocket — thirty on the first stage alone — across its four failed launches.

A lightweight high-performance oxidizer-rich staged-combustion RP-1/LOX engine developed in the Soviet N1 program for the upgraded (never-flown) N1F; refurbished units later flew (as the AJ-26) on the first-generation Antares.

SpaceX's methane/LOX full-flow staged-combustion engine for Starship and its Super Heavy booster — one of very few full-flow engines ever flown, designed for rapid reuse. Thrust has risen across versions.

The RP-1/LOX gas-generator engines of the R-7/Soyuz core and strap-on boosters — first flown in 1957 and, in evolved form, still launching crews to orbit.

The most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine ever flown — a four-chamber oxidizer-rich staged-combustion RP-1/LOX engine used on the Energia boosters and (as the RD-171) the Zenit first stage.

A Russian two-chamber oxidizer-rich staged-combustion RP-1/LOX engine (derived from the RD-170) that powered the Atlas V first stage.

A long-serving expander-cycle LH2/LOX upper-stage engine (first flown in the 1960s) that powers the Centaur and DCSS upper stages and continues on Vulcan Centaur.

A reusable fuel-rich staged-combustion LH2/LOX engine developed for the Space Shuttle (as the SSME) and now expended on the SLS core stage; among the highest-efficiency hydrogen engines flown.

A large LH2/LOX gas-generator engine developed for the Delta IV; designed for lower cost than the SSME, it powered the Delta IV and Delta IV Heavy cores.

Rocket Lab's small RP-1/LOX engine — the first electric-pump-fed (battery-driven turbopump) engine to reach orbit; nine power the Electron first stage and one the second stage.

ISRO's storable-propellant (UDMH/N2O4) engine, used across the PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3 liquid stages and strap-on boosters.

A restartable closed-expander-cycle LH2/LOX upper-stage engine developed for Ariane 6, enabling multiple burns for complex mission profiles.

The LH2/LOX gas-generator core engine of Ariane 5 (and, as Vulcain 2.1, of the Ariane 6 core stage).

China's kerosene/LOX oxidizer-rich staged-combustion engine, used in the boosters of Long March 5 and the cores of Long March 6/7.

China's first large LH2/LOX engine, two of which power the Long March 5 core stage.