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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Rockets & Spacecraft

Thrust

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

/θrʌst/nounCommon term

In astronomy & space, thrust means: The pushing force a rocket or jet engine produces by throwing gas out at high speed. It is measured in newtons or kilonewtons.

In Turkish: itki, itme kuvveti

How it is used

Engineers compare engines by thrust and talk about throttling it up or down. A rocket can only lift off if its thrust is greater than its weight. 'Thrust vector control' means steering by tilting the engine.

Example sentences

  1. At liftoff the nine engines produce more than 7,000 kilonewtons of thrust.

  2. The engines reduced thrust for a few seconds to lower the stress on the rocket.

Common collocations

  • generate thrust
  • full thrust
  • thrust-to-weight ratio
  • thrust vector control
  • rocketA vehicle or engine that moves forward by pushing hot gas out of the back at high speed. Rockets are used to send satellites, probes and crews into space.
  • propellantThe fuel and the oxidiser that a rocket burns to produce thrust. Common examples are liquid hydrogen, kerosene, methane and liquid oxygen.
  • boosterA rocket or rocket stage that gives extra thrust in the first minutes of a launch and then separates. Side boosters are attached to the outside of the main rocket.
  • liftoffThe exact moment a rocket leaves the launch pad and starts to rise. The verb form is 'lift off'.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Rockets & Spacecraft

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