Are multiple stage rockets better than single stage to orbit or are they about the same for effectiveness?

Question

Are multiple stage rockets better than single stage to orbit or are they about the same for effectiveness?

Answer 1

it all comes down to nozzle velocity.

(its been awhile since I studied rocket science)

you can show that if you have two rockets, one that is a single stage and one that is mulitple-staged, that allowing for the same type of rocket engine in both, the single stage will not reach orbital velocity.

engines keep getting better, and this was a few <cough> years ago, but I doubt much has changed with the math.  You still need some throw away mass.

Answer 2

Obviously, dropping part of the weight of the vehicle means there is that much less to lift the "rest of the way".

Less obvious, until you think abvout it, is that to jettison a stage, you need a more complicated (and therefore heavier) rocket.  So single stage rockets make more sense as the size of the payload decreases.

Answer 3

Being able to get rid of dead mass you no longer need is always a win in rocketry.

Not all launch vehicle structures scale well.  A great big tank requires more material per unit volume (e.g., liter) than small tanks, so there's a point at which several small tanks hold the same volume better and safer than one large tank.  Then it follows that getting rid of the tanks you've emptied lets the remaining rocket work more efficiently.

The advantage of SSTO is chiefly reusability (where you can get it).  But there is also a system simplicity to a single-stage rocket.  Fewer things to go wrong, in general.  SpaceX found out the hard way during their recent third test flight that staging is not always a straightforward thing.

Answer 4

For lifting higher loads upto higher altitudes,multiple stage rockets are essential otherwise it will be effecient. Remember that the rocket also have to carry its own dead weight with it!

Just think you are throwing a stone from  Rrunning train,The stone will get speed of train + your efforts.In the same way, when second stage takes of from burnt out first stage it already have a good speed.

Answer 5

Each has it's advantages & disadvantages and of course purposes. The multistaged can discard empty stages reducing weight and as more energy per pound is realized single stage could slip into the multistage arena. Keeping the weight to a minumum is the key....james the hollow earth man

Answer 6

For chemical rockets, multiple stages are far more efficient, so much so that single stage to orbit (SSTO) chemical rockets aren't really practical for any kind of space exploration purpose. Carrying all the useless weight of such an enormous fuel tank is just plain way too inefficient.

That said, there are possibilities for nonchemical launch systems, some of which (like the orion drive) would be feasible SSTO systems, and others of which (like the launch loop) wouldn't really be considered to have 'stages' at all as the vehicle itself would not carry launch fuel or be responsible for its own propulsion.