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Topic · Aerospace Engineering

Rocket and propulsion systems research

Rocket and propulsion systems research is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 30k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the development, testing, and analysis of hybrid rocket propulsion systems, including the behavior of fuel regression rates, combustion instabilities, thermochemical erosion, and the use of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer. It also explores stability analysis, porous chamber flow dynamics, and the application of hybrid rockets in space launch vehicles.

  • Hybrid Rocket Propulsion
  • Regression Rate Behavior
  • Combustion Instabilities
  • Solid Rocket Motors
  • Fuel Regression Rate
  • Thermochemical Erosion
  • Porous Chamber Flow
  • Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition
  • Catalytic Ignition
  • Space Launch Vehicles
Research works
30k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+32%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
43% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Rocket and propulsion systems research

Which countries lead Rocket and propulsion systems research research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.9k and 876 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.9k works
  2. 2 United States 876 works
  3. 3 India 377 works
  4. 4 Russia 295 works
  5. 5 Germany 187 works
  6. 6 Italy 180 works
  7. 7 South Korea 143 works
  8. 8 Japan 125 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 117 works
  10. 10 France 117 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 43.5%United States: 20.5%India: 8.8%Russia: 6.9%6 others listed: 20.3%43%largest
China1,859 · 43.5%United States876 · 20.5%India377 · 8.8%Russia295 · 6.9%6 others listed869 · 20.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Rocket and propulsion systems research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Nanjing University of Science and Technology publishes the most Rocket and propulsion systems research research, followed by Northwestern Polytechnical University and Beijing Institute of Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyChina 162 works
  2. 2 Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 131 works
  3. 3 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 121 works
  4. 4 Beihang UniversityChina 88 works
  5. 5 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 74 works
  6. 6 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 73 works
  7. 7 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 66 works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 60 works
  9. 9 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 58 works
  10. 10 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 56 works

Who are the leading researchers in Rocket and propulsion systems research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Rocket and propulsion systems research include Xiaogang Wang and William A. Goddard.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  2. 2 William A. Goddard United States 182k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Rocket and propulsion systems research?

The most cited paper in Rocket and propulsion systems research is "Rocket Propulsion Elements" (George P. Sutton, Howard S. Seifert, 1950), with 1,761 citations. Next come "Mathematical Basis and Validation of the Full Cavitation Model" (1,629) and "Advances in science and technology of modern energetic materials: An overview" (1,061).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Rocket Propulsion Elements George P. Sutton, Howard S. Seifert · Physics Today Feb 1950 1,761
2 Mathematical Basis and Validation of the Full Cavitation Model Ashok Kumar Singhal, Mahesh M. Athavale, Huiying Li et al. · Journal of Fluids Engineering 19 Aug 2002 1,629
3 Advances in science and technology of modern energetic materials: An overview Dilip M. Badgujar, M. B. Talawar, S. N. Asthana et al. · Journal of Hazardous Materials 4 Dec 2007 1,061
4 Metal-based reactive nanomaterials Edward L. Dreizin · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science Dec 2008 959
5 Laminar Heat Transfer Over Blunt-Nosed Bodies at Hypersonic Flight Speeds LESTER LEES · Jet propulsion Apr 1956 895
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Rocket and propulsion systems research research done?

The largest centres of Rocket and propulsion systems research research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Nanjing (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Hampton and Huntsville.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 468 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 250 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 248 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 128 works
  5. 5 ChangshaChina 88 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 84 works
  7. 7 HarbinChina 80 works
  8. 8 MianyangChina 60 works
  9. 9 TokyoJapan 54 works
  10. 10 CologneGermany 54 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. HamptonUS · 21.2 works45×
  2. HuntsvilleUS · 22.9 works32×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Rocket and propulsion systems research than the world average.

See Rocket and propulsion systems research on the map

Where is the best place to study Rocket and propulsion systems research?

Among universities, judged by research, Polytechnic School of Algiers, Northwestern Polytechnical University and Nanjing University of Science and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 20.38%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Polytechnic School o…Northwestern Polytec…Beijing Institute of…Nanjing University o…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Polytechnic School of AlgiersAlgeria 72.341.6%64.9×15 +111.8%
2Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 65.521.7%25.6×131 +77.8%
3Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyChina 63.012.5%44.3×162 +95.3%
4Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 63.017.2%22.9×121 +93.3%
5Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 60.525.3%6.8×50 +106.0%
6Zhejiang UniversityChina 57.429.2%2.5×31 +210.3%
7Beihang UniversityChina 57.013.7%17.8×88 +85.6%
8National University of Defense TechnologyChina 55.216.5%21.0×73 +75.0%
9Politecnico di MilanoItaly 50.710.3%8.7×28 +161.0%
10North University of ChinaChina 50.015.8%40.5×44 +223.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Rocket and propulsion systems research, country by country

Is Rocket and propulsion systems research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 32% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Rocket and propulsion systems research.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Rocket and propulsion systems research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.026% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Rocket and propulsion systems research0.024% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Rocket and propulsion systems research over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Rocket and propulsion systems research9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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