The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, named after Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, describes the relationship between the mass of a rocket, its velocity, and the exhaust velocity of the propellant it expels.
The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation is expressed as:
Where:
- is the change in velocity (delta-v),
- is the effective exhaust velocity of the rocket engine,
- is the initial total mass of the rocket (including propellant),
- is the final mass of the rocket (after expelling the propellant).