Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
Ecuación del cohete de Tsiolkovski
- Date
- 1903 · confidence high
- Place
- Kaluga, Russia
- Credited to
- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Mathematical relation between a rocket's change in velocity, its exhaust velocity and the ratio of initial to final mass. It sets the theoretical limit of any rocket flight and justifies multistage rockets.
Tsiolkovsky published it in 1903 ('Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Reaction Devices'), although his notebooks date it to about 1897. William Moore (1810-1813) and Ivan Meshchersky (1897, variable mass) had derived it earlier, so priority is nuanced.
What it led to
- design of staged rockets and propellant mass budgets
- proposal of high-performance liquid propellants (hydrogen and oxygen)
- delta-v budgeting for every space mission