List of rocket planes
Encyclopedia
This List of rocket planes is an incomplete listing, loosely chronological sorted by type used for launch, of some aircraft that used rocket propulsion:
s are aircraft that are able to reach the edge of space.
A number of Soviet fighter aircraft were modified as mixed power interceptors
Spaceplanes
SpaceplaneSpaceplane
A spaceplane is a vehicle that operates as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere, as well as a spacecraft when it is in space. It combines features of an aircraft and a spacecraft, which can be thought of as an aircraft that can endure and maneuver in the vacuum of space or likewise a spacecraft that...
s are aircraft that are able to reach the edge of space.
- 1930s
Germany -Silbervogel sub orbital bomber project, never went beyond mock up test. - 1945 Germany - A4b winged version of V-2 rocketV-2 rocketThe V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
- unmanned, test flights only. - 1959 - X-15 - manned, carried aloft under the wing of a B-52, conducted numerous supersonic and hypersonic flights
- 1981 - Space ShuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
- manned (unable to fly unmanned, rocket assisted vertical take-off) lands unpowered - 1988 - Buran Shuttle - unmanned test flight (designed to be manned, but no need to be manned, rocket assisted vertical take-off)
- 2004 - Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne - manned, has a hybrid rocket motor and performed first civilian-funded reusable spacecraft, flights begin with the White Knight lifting SpaceShipOne to about 14 km
- 2006 - X-37Boeing X-37The Boeing X-37 is an American unmanned vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the United States Air Force for orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space technologies...
- unmanned (technology demonstrator) - 2010 - Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwoScaled Composites SpaceShipTwoThe Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital, air-launched spaceplane, designed for space tourism. It is under development by The Spaceship Company, a California-based joint venture between Scaled Composites and the Virgin Group, as part of the Tier 1b program.SpaceShipTwo is...
- manned, technology development prototype for a planned fleet of five spaceplaneSpaceplaneA spaceplane is a vehicle that operates as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere, as well as a spacecraft when it is in space. It combines features of an aircraft and a spacecraft, which can be thought of as an aircraft that can endure and maneuver in the vacuum of space or likewise a spacecraft that...
s for commercial space passenger service with Virgin GalacticVirgin GalacticVirgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
. Currently in flight testing.
Rocket planes with conventional take-off
- 1928
Germany Lippisch Ente - 1929 Germany Opel RAK.1Opel RAK.1The Opel RAK.1 was the world's first purpose-built rocket-powered aircraft. It was designed and built by Julius Hatry under commission from Fritz von Opel who flew it on September 30, 1929 in front of a large crowd at Rebstock airport near Frankfurt-am-Main.During the late 1920s, von Opel had...
- 1939 Germany He 176 world's first liquid-fuel rocket-powered test plane
- 1940 RP-318-1 powered by Glushko and Dushkin engines, unmanned tests in 1938.
- 1940 Germany DFS 194 rocket-powered glider test plane
- 1942 Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1Soviet research and development of rocket-powered aircraft began with Sergey Korolev's GIRD-6 project in 1932. His interest in stratospheric flight was also shared by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky who supported this early work...
close-range fighter powered by Dushkin and Isaev engines - 194x Germany Me 163 rocket-powered fighter (extensive use in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) - 194x Germany Me 263 also known as Ju 248, development of Me 163
- 1944 Northrop MX-324 Experimental "flying ram" point defense interceptor flying wingFlying wingA flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
. - 1944 Su-7 Modified Sukhoi Su-6 with RD-1 kHz (chemical ignition RD-1) engine.
- 1945 Yak-3RD Modified Yakovlev Yak-3Yakovlev Yak-3The Yakovlev Yak-3 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft.Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by pilots and ground crew alike....
with Glushko RD-1 kHz engine. - 1945
Japan Mitsubishi J8MMitsubishi J8MThe Mitsubishi J8M Shūsui was a Japanese World War II rocket-powered interceptor aircraft closely based on the German Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.Built as a joint project for both the Navy and the Army Air Services, it was designated J8M...
, licence-built copy of the Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet" - 1945 Lavochkin La-7RLavochkin La-7The Lavochkin La-7 was a piston-engined Soviet fighter developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau . It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG-1 in 1938. Its first flight was in early 1944 and it...
variant with Glushko's RD-1 kHz engine.
- 1948 Bisnovat 5 Russian design based from earlier captured DFS 346, cancelled (never flew under power)
- 2001 EZ-Rocket Customized Rutan Long-EZ, experimental model.
- 2006 Mark I X-racer Customized Velocity SE, prototype for Rocket Racing LeagueRocket Racing LeagueThe Rocket Racing League is a proposed racing league that would use rocket-powered aircraft to race a closed-circuit air racetrack. Founded in 2005, the league is currently working to hold the first multi-vehicle races in 2011...
. - 2010 Rocket Racing LeagueRocket Racing LeagueThe Rocket Racing League is a proposed racing league that would use rocket-powered aircraft to race a closed-circuit air racetrack. Founded in 2005, the league is currently working to hold the first multi-vehicle races in 2011...
Mark-III X-racer
Air launched rocket planes
- 1944 Germany - SelbstopferSelbstopferThe Fieseler Fi 103R was a late-World War II German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb produced for missions which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", Group V of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.-Background:The Leonidas Squadron, part of KG 200, had been set up as a suicide...
- near-suicide mission manned version of the V-1 Flying BombV-1 flying bombThe V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
to be dropped from a modified Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium... - 1945 OhkaOhkaThe Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was a purpose-built, rocket powered human-guided anti-shipping kamikaze attack plane employed by Japan towards the end of World War II...
- manned air-launched kamikazeKamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft - 1947 Bell X-1Bell X-1The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was a joint NACA-U.S. Army/US Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft. Conceived in 1944 and designed and built over 1945, it eventually reached nearly 1,000 mph in 1948...
- manned, first plane to break the sound barrierSound barrierThe sound barrier, in aerodynamics, is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. The term, which occasionally has other meanings, came into use during World War II, when a number of aircraft started to encounter the effects of compressibility, a collection of several...
in controlled, level flight (Also conventional take off on one occasion) - 1953 Douglas D-588-II SkyrocketDouglas SkyrocketThe Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy...
- manned supersonic research aircraft - 1955 Bell X-2Bell X-2-Popular culture:* The 1956 film Toward the Unknown starred the X-2, William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith. A brainwashed former POW tries to return to test flying; co-starring the Martin XB-51 and the Edwards AFB flight line....
- manned supersonic research aircraft
Rocket planes taking off vertically
- 1945 Germany - Bachem Ba 349Bachem Ba 349The Bachem Ba 349 Natter was a World War II German point-defence rocket powered interceptor, which was to be used in a very similar way to a manned surface-to-air missile. After vertical take-off, which eliminated the need for airfields, the majority of the flight to the Allied bombers was to be...
"Natter" - manned surface-to-air missileSurface-to-air missileA surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
(Lothar SieberLothar SieberLothar Sieber was a German test pilot who was killed in the first vertical take-off manned rocket flight, in a Bachem Ba 349 "Natter"....
) - 1963 - ASSETASSET (spaceplane)-Winged Gemini:In the mid-1960s, McDonnell proposed a variant of the Gemini capsule which retained the original spacecraft's internal subsystems and crew compartment, but dispensed with the tail-first ballistic reentry, parachute recovery and water landing....
- unmanned atmospheric reentry test vehicle - 1966 - X-23 PRIME - unmanned atmospheric reentry test vehicle
- 1982 - BOR-4BOR-4The BOR-4 flight vehicle is a scaled prototype of the Soviet Spiral VTHL spaceplane. An unmanned, subscale craft, its purpose was to test the heatshield tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon for the Buran space shuttle, then under development...
- unmanned atmospheric reentry test vehicle
Mixed power rocket planes
All conventional take off designs. These used rockets as well as another type of powerplant- Hawker P.1072Hawker P.1072-See also:-References:* Hannah, Donald. Hawker FlyPast Reference Library. Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK: Key Publishing Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-946219-01-X....
- manned mixed power test bed for rocket propulsion. - Saunders-Roe SR.53Saunders-Roe SR.53|- See also :-References:NotesBibliography* Jones, Barry. "Saro's Mixed Power Saga". Aeroplane Monthly, November 1994, Vol 22 No 11 Issue 259. pp. 32–39. London:IPC. ISSN 0143-7240....
UK, 1957 - manned, mixed power interceptor. - Saunders-Roe SR.177 UK - manned, development of SR.53, project cancelled before first flight
- XF-91 ThunderceptorXF-91 Thunderceptor|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. North Branch, Minnesota, USA: Specialty Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58007-111-6....
USA - manned, mixed power rocket and jet engines - Douglas SkyrocketDouglas SkyrocketThe Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy...
USA - manned, mixed power - Lockheed NF-104ALockheed NF-104AThe Lockheed NF-104A was an American mixed power, high-performance, supersonic aerospace trainer that served as a low cost astronaut training vehicle for the X-15 and projected X-20 Dyna-Soar programs....
USA - manned, mixed power rocket and jet engine - SNCASO TridentSNCASO Trident-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. Fighters of the Fifties. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85059-463-4* Taylor, John W.R. Jane's Pocket Book of Research and Experimental Aircraft, London, Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd, 1976. ISBN 0356 08409 4.-External links:*...
FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- manned, mixed power rocket (tail) and turbojet engines (wingtips) - SNCASE SE-212 DurandalSNCASE SE-212 Durandal- See also :-References:NotesBibliography* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: Smithmark Publishing, 1994. ISBN 978-0831739393....
- French mixed power interceptor, 1956, protypes only - Avro 720Avro 720|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* . Flight, 27 July 1956. pp. 160–164.* . Flight, 17 August 1967, p. 262.* Jackson, A. J. Avro Aircraft since 1908. London:Putnam, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-834-8....
- UK, mixed power cancelled before flight
A number of Soviet fighter aircraft were modified as mixed power interceptors
See also
- Pegasus rocketPegasus rocketThe Pegasus rocket is a winged space launch vehicle capable of carrying small, unmanned payloads into low Earth orbit. It is air-launched, as part of an expendable launch system developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation . Three main stages burning solid propellant provide the thrust...
- Rocket-powered aircraftRocket-powered aircraftA rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typically for at most a few minutes of powered operation, followed by a...
- List of rockets
- Rocket Racing LeagueRocket Racing LeagueThe Rocket Racing League is a proposed racing league that would use rocket-powered aircraft to race a closed-circuit air racetrack. Founded in 2005, the league is currently working to hold the first multi-vehicle races in 2011...
(RRL)