A multistage (or multi-stage) rocket is, like any rocket, propelled by the recoil pressure of the burning gases it emits as it burns fuel.

What characterizes it as "multi-stage" is that it successively jettisons one or more stages as they become empty.

It is effectively one or more rockets (stages) stacked on top of or attached next to each other ("parallel staging"); in order to reduce the total amount of mass which needs to be accelerated to the final speed/height.

Generally each stage consists of one or more motors, plus fuel and oxidiser tanks for a liquid rocket or the casing for a solid rocket.

In rocketry, this concept is known as staging.

Solid or liquid rocket Boosters are often used for parallel staging schemes and all motors are ignited at launch.

For more information about the topic Multistage rocket, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Solid-fuel rocket — A solid rocket or a solid fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid fuelled, ...  > read more

Hybrid rocket — A hybrid rocket propulsion system comprises propellants of two different states of matter, the most common configuration being a rocket engine ...  > read more

Propellant — A propellant is a material that is used to move an object by applying a motive force. This may or may not involve a chemical reaction. It may be a ...  > read more

Model rocket — Model rocketry is a hobby similar to building model airplanes. In the hobby today, there are two distinct areas of rocket activity: amateur (or ...  > read more

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