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A '''rocket-powered aircraft''' or '''rocket plane''' is an [[aircraft]] that uses a [[rocket engine]] for [[propulsion]], sometimes in addition to [[airbreathing jet engine]]s. 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 [[gliding flight]]. Unhindered by the need for [[oxygen]] from the [[atmosphere]], they are suitable for very high-altitude flight. They are also capable of delivering much higher acceleration and shorter takeoffs. Many rocket aircraft may be [[Drop test|drop launched]] from transport planes, as take-off from ground may leave them with insufficient time to reach high altitudes.
[[Rocket]]s have been used simply to assist the main propulsion in the form of [[JATO|jet assisted take off]] (
Because of the use of heavy propellants and other practical difficulties of operating rockets, the majority of rocket planes have been built for experimental or research use, as [[Interceptor aircraft|interceptor]] fighters and [[Spaceplane|space aircraft]].
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On 11 June 1928, as part of the Opel RAK program of Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, [[Lippisch Ente]] became the first aircraft to fly under rocket power.<ref>https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0904rocket/ article by Walter J. Boyne in Air Force Magazine, September 1, 2004</ref><ref>[http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lippisch_Ente.htm "Lippisch Ente."]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Science: Experimental Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 26 September 2011.</ref><ref name="Ford 224">Ford 2013, p. 224.</ref> During the following year, the [[Opel RAK.1]] became the first purpose-built rocket plane to fly with Fritz von Opel himself as the pilot.<ref name="lesailes101029">{{cite journal |last1=Houard |first1=Georges |title=Le planeur à fusée de Fritz von Opel a volé à Francfort sur deux kilomètres |journal=Les Ailes |date=10 October 1929 |volume=9 |issue=434 |page=11 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65546641/f11.item |access-date=25 July 2019 |language=EN}}</ref> The Opel RAK.1 flight is also considered the world's first public flight of a manned rocket plane since it took place before a large crowd and with world media in attendance.
On 28 June 1931, another ground-breaking rocket flight was conducted by the [[Italy|Italian]] aviator and inventor [[Ettore Cattaneo]], who created another privately built rocket plane. It flew and landed without particular problems. Following this flight, the King of Italy [[Vittorio Emanuele III|Victor Emmanuel III]] appointed Cattaneo count of [[Taliedo]]; due to his pioneering role in rocket flight, his likeness is displayed in the Space Museum of Saint Petersburg as well as in the Museum of Science and Tech of Milan.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2004/ottobre/03/Cattaneo_pioniere_del_volo_incompreso_co_9_041003088.shtml |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151122110454/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2004/ottobre/03/Cattaneo_pioniere_del_volo_incompreso_co_9_041003088.shtml |title = Esplora il significato del termine: Cattaneo: pioniere del volo, incompreso in patriaCattaneo: pioniere del volo, incompreso in patria |publisher = archiviostorico.corriere.it |year = 2004|archive-date = 2015-11-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN3GtAaVdkA |title = June the 28th 1931 First Rocket Flight in Milan by Ettore Cattaneo.avi |date = 15 February 2012 |publisher = youtube.com |access-date = 6 December 2020}}</ref>
===World War II===
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Japan, who was allied to Nazi Germany, secured the design schematics of the Me 163 Komet.<ref>{{Harvnb|Green|1971|p=114.}}</ref> After considerable effort, it successfully established its own production capability, which was used to produce a limited number of its own copies, known as the [[Mitsubishi J8M]], which performed its first powered flight on 7 July 1945.<ref>{{Harvnb|Green|1971|p=123.}}</ref> Furthermore, Japan attempted to develop its own domestically designed rocket-powered interceptor, the [[Mizuno Shinryu]]; neither the J8M or the Shinryu ever saw combat.<ref name="Dyer">Dyer 2009, pp. 40–42.</ref> The Japanese also produced approximately 850 [[Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka]] rocket-powered [[Kamikaze|suicide attack aircraft]] during the Second World War, a number were deployed in the [[Battle of Okinawa]]. Postwar analysis concluded that the ''Ohka''{{'}}s impact was negligible, and that no U.S. Navy capital ships had been hit during the attacks due to the effective defensive tactics that were employed.<ref name="Kightly">Kightly, James. "Yokosuka Ohka Kamikaze Pilot." ''Aeroplane'', Volume 39, No. 7, Issue no. 459, July 2011, pp. 30–31.</ref>
Other experimental aircraft included the Soviet [[Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1]] that flew in 1942 while the [[Northrop XP-79]] was originally planned with rocket engines but switched to [[jet engine]]s for its first and only flight in 1945. A rocket
The Walter 109-509.S1 Assisted Take-Off Unit. "The Hellmuth Walter Rocket Motor Web Site" Retrieved: 2 February 2022</ref>
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The [[EZ-Rocket]] research and test airplane was first flown in 2001.<ref name=forbes20140618>{{cite news |last1=Knapp |first1=Alex |title=Bootstrapping To The Stars |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2014/06/18/bootstrapping-to-the-stars/ |access-date=19 June 2014 |work=Forbes |date=18 June 2014}}</ref> After evaluating the EZ-Rocket, the [[Rocket Racing League]] developed three separate rocket racer aircraft over the following decade.<ref name=at201006>{{cite web |url = http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/17fdb9ec#/17fdb9ec/52 |title = Flying inside the groove: the latest rocket-powered test aircraft take just four seconds to get into the air from ignition. The brink of take-off for the RRL |publisher = Aerospace Testing International |date = June 2010 |pages = 50–54 |access-date = 6 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.space.com/8290-rocket-racing-league-unveils-flying-hot-rod.html |title = Rocket Racing League Unveils New Flying Hot Rod |publisher = space.com |first = Denise |last = Chow |date = 26 April 2010}}</ref>
During 2003, another [[private spaceflight|privately developed]] rocket-powered aircraft performed its first flight. [[SpaceShipOne]] functions both as a rocket-powered aircraft—with [[airfoil|wings]] and [[Flight dynamics|aerodynamic control surfaces]]—as well as a [[spaceplane]]—with [[reaction control system|RCS thrusters]] for control in the vacuum of space. For their work, the SpaceShipOne team were awarded the Space Achievement Award.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalspacesymposium.org/symposium-awards |title=Symposium Awards |access-date=31 January 2012 |url-status=
In April 2019, the Chinese company Space Transportation carried out a test of a 3,700-kilogram technology demonstrator named [[Jiageng-1]]. The 8.7-meter-long plane has a wingspan of 2.5 meters and it is a part of development of the larger, future [[Tianxing-I-1]] vertical takeoff, horizontal landing reusable launch vehicle.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://spacenews.com/chinese-firms-space-transportation-and-linkspace-test-reusable-launcher-technologies/ |title = Chinese firms Space Transportation and Linkspace test reusable launcher technologies |publisher = spacenews.com |first = Andrew |last = Jones |date = 26 April 2019}}</ref>
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* [[Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey]]
* [[Skylon (spacecraft)]]
* [[XCOR Lynx]]
* [[Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport]]
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* London, Pete. "Saunders-Roe's Rocket Fighters." ''Aircraft'', Vol. 43, no. 7, July 2010.
* Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA:Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55750-082-7}}.
* {{cite journal |last1=Mejía |first1=Álvaro |url=https://revistas.ucsp.edu.pe/index.php/persona/article/view/209/230 |title=Pedro Paulet, sabio multidisciplinario |journal=Persona & Cultura |publisher=Universidad Católica San Pablo |year=2017 |volume=14 |issue=14 |edition= |pages=95–122 |doi=10.36901/persona.v14i14.209 |language=es |access-date=|doi-access=free }}
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%200691.html "Mixed-Power Interceptor"]. ''[[Flight International|Flight]]'', 24 May 1957, pp. 697–700.
* Pelt, Michel van. ''Rocketing into the Future: The History and Technology of Rocket Planes.'' Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. {{ISBN|1-461-43200-6}}.
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