There are numerous scientific, engineering technological elements which are involved in the development of actual rockets. Some of them are the following:

• Material Engineering: Material engineers play a crucial role in the process of rocket making since they study and analyze the properties of materials that the frame and skin of the rocket will be made of. The frame is constructed from very strong but lightweight materials, like titanium or aluminum. The skin of the rocket may be coated with a thermal protection system to keep out the heat of air friction during flight and to keep in the cold temperatures needed for certain fuels and oxidizers.

• Propulsion and Combustion Engineering: Engineers who develop the engine that produces the thrust and study the fundamental principles of turbulent combustion and its application to propulsion systems.

• Aerodynamics: Scientists and engineers study the aerodynamic behavior of rockets during flight. Aerodynamic forces are generated and act on a rocket as it flies through the air. Understanding the motion of air around an object (often called a flow field) enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object.

• Control Engineering: Control engineering is the engineering field that deals with the application of control theory in order to design systems with desired behaviors. Control theory is a branch of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems with inputs, and how their behavior is modified by feedback.

• Flight Analysis: Scientists and engineers who calculate and analyze the rocket’s flight performance. Theory and analysis is applied to several different flight regimes: (1) flight within the atmosphere, (2) near space environments, (3) lunar and planetary flights, (4) sun escape.