The fundamental principle of rocketry—propulsion by reaction—has been understood for centuries, with its earliest practical use traced to ancient China. However, the transition from simple solid-fuel fireworks to the sophisticated vehicles that enable modern space exploration is a story of 20th and 21st-century engineering. Pioneering theorists like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky laid the mathematical groundwork, while engineers like Robert Goddard turned theory into practice, launching the world's first liquid-propellant rocket in 1926. This breakthrough unlocked the potential for controllable, high-performance propulsion, culminating in the powerful and complex machines we rely on today. A launch vehicle is an integrated system where every component must work together, a failure of one component may lead to a cascading catastrophic event. Before analyzing the different types of rocket engines, let us understand the major components of a rocket and how the propulsion system fits into this broader architecture.