Here’s how it works. SpaceX's new Starship Torch trades the real spacecraft's six methane-fueled rocket engines with a refillable butane lighter. (Image credit: SpaceX) ...

But a rocket engine needs to explode just enough and not a bit more. That’s tough, as [Ryan Kuhn] discovered. He’s behind ABL’s E2 rocket, a LOX/kerosene engine for small vehicle launches.

Punch in the details for a small 1-inch diameter rocket with an A8-5 engine, and you’ll find it won’t go very high or very far, and the calculator bears that out.

Shown here is a one-eighth scale model of the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) nuclear rocket test engine on a movable stand equipped with rails. Originally conceived by the ...

Capable of carrying a small payload, the rocket can fly as high as 400 feet (120 meters) using a single C6-3 or C6-5 model rocket engine. Each box also includes a postcard that can fly much higher.

Joe Barnard, creator of the Youtube channel BPS.Space was inspired by SpaceX’s success with the real-world landing of Falcon 9, and decided to build a working model of a landable rocket.

Model rocket enthusiasts are learning how to do vertical landings Two hobbyists show how they can pull off SpaceX’s trick at a smaller scale with custom hardware and a few years of effort.