- You may also be looking for the actor Charles Rocket.
A rocket was a form of spacecraft propulsion, usually used when a society began the early stages of space flight. It was simple and reliable, and could be constructed from easily available materials. Rocket engines could also be used in a wide range of other applications, from fireworks to weapons.
Uses of rockets
Rockets are rarely used in societies which have attained warp and/or impulse travel, although they occasionally find uses in small applications such as boosters for gravity boots. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) A rocket has a limited maximum speed - it can only travel as fast as exhaust gases are ejected, which in practical terms means that a rocket cannot go faster than about 0.25c (i.e. one quarter of the speed of light). Since the force of a rocket depends on the number, speed and mass of the exhaust gas particles, rockets are also impractical for propelling large vehicles, in contrast to fusion-powered impulse engines (especially those with driver coils, such as those found aboard a Galaxy-class starship).
Significant Rockets
Due to their simplicity, rockets are a common form of propulsion for a society's first space flights. Although possibly indicative of a low technological level, they have been encountered in both the 23rd and 24th centuries. The USS Enterprise, for example, encountered a rocket-propelled missile in 2268 (TOS: "Patterns of Force"); the Enterprise-D likewise came across rocket-propelled spacecraft several times. (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona", etc.)
One of the most famous rockets in Earth history was the Phoenix, Zefram Cochrane's first warp-powered spacecraft. Although the Phoenix itself was powered by an early warp drive, it had to be boosted into Earth orbit by a chemical rocket (which was, at that time, the only practical launch system available). The booster Cochrane used for his historic flight was modified from a Titan V nuclear missile. (Star Trek: First Contact)