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Loading contentSteering a rocket by aiming its thrust — most often by gimballing the engines on hydraulic or electric actuators, and sometimes with vanes or differential throttling. Because a climbing rocket is aerodynamically unstable, thrust vector control is what keeps it pointed and on course from liftoff through staging.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
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