Space launch
Rockets and the engines, structures and recovery systems that put payloads into orbit.
China leads space launch research, with 34.8% of the 10% most cited papers published 2021–2025; the United States is second with 12.3%.
Added 14 October 2026. Its top papers were checked for relevance by AI, but its keywords and topic list have not yet been reviewed by hand.
Standings
Share of the 10% most cited papers, 2021–2025; 101 papers. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Year by year
About 20 papers a year. Single-year moves are noise.Share of the 10% most cited papers published in each year. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Inside the field
Always the top 10%PilotEach paper sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract, then credited as usual. On 200 hand-labelled papers it chose the same sub-area, or a defensible second, 92% of the time.
| Sub-area | Papers | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid rocket engines (injectors, combustion, cooling, pumps) | 21 | CNChina41.7% | KRSouth Korea14.3% | ITItaly8.2% |
| Reusable launch vehicles: design, trajectories, guidance, landing | 20 | CNChina33.3% | DEGermany23.7% | FRFrance12.5% |
| Rotating detonation rocket engines | 14 | USUnited States49.5% | CNChina26.8% | JPJapan13.6% |
| Solid propellants and energetic materials | 11 | CNChina39.0% | RURussia9.1% | KRSouth Korea9.1% |
| Hybrid rocket propulsion | 9 | FRFrance31.2% | PLPoland22.2% | CNChina18.5% |
| Green and hypergolic propellants | 7 | CNChina45.0% | INIndia14.3% | KRSouth Korea14.3% |
Share of each sub-area's papers in the top 10%. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Earlier and recent
Small sample: 42 papers in one period.The same top 10%, split into 2021–2023 and 2024–2025.
Greyed rows rest on fewer than five papers of credit in one period.
Share of the 10% most cited papers: 59 papers in 2021–2023, 42 in 2024–2025. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
2026 so far: a different count
Not the most cited papers: every 2026 paper matched so far (178), and a paper counts in full for each country on it. This year's papers are too new to rank by citations, so these shares cannot be compared with the ones above.
- CNChina40.4%of 2026 papers have an author here
- ITItaly7.9%of 2026 papers have an author here
- KRSouth Korea6.7%of 2026 papers have an author here
- INIndia6.2%of 2026 papers have an author here
- USUnited States6.2%of 2026 papers have an author here
Who cites the top papers
How much more often a country's top papers are cited from home than its size predicts. Expected is the country's share of all papers in the field; the bar is the excess, in percentage points. Home citers include authors citing their own earlier work.
Based on up to 100 of each country's most cited single-country papers in the top 10%. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Behind the share
Institutions with the most credit
- 1DEDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)Research facility5.4%
- 2CNBeihang University3.8%
- 3CNHarbin Institute of Technology3.4%
- 4CNNorthwestern Polytechnical University3.0%
- 5PLŁukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of AviationResearch facility2.9%
- 6KRKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology2.4%
- 7USPurdue University West Lafayette2.3%
- 8ITSapienza University of Rome2.2%
- 9CNNanjing University of Science and Technology2.0%
- 10TWNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University2.0%
Share of the top 10%. Institutions across all 45 technologies
Who does the work
| Sector | All | CN | US | KR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universities | 70.5% | 89.4% | 69.9% | 75.0% |
| Research facilities | 20.3% | 8.3% | 18.4% | 0% |
| Government labs | 5.5% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 18.1% |
| Companies | 2.6% | 1.2% | 7.3% | 6.9% |
Share of credit by type of institution, overall and for the three leading countries.
Across borders
11.9% of the top 10% have authors in more than one country.
- DEUSGermany with United States2
- CNFRChina with France2
- CNITChina with Italy2
- BRDEBrazil with Germany1
- INITIndia with Italy1
Most frequent pairings, by number of shared papers.
The papers behind the numbers
The five most cited papers this definition catches. If one looks out of place, the definition needs work.
- Three-dimensional numerical modeling of a rocket engine with solid fuelActa Astronautica, 2021RU121citations
- Overview of reusable space systems with a look to technology aspectsActa Astronautica, 2021FR106citations
- Convex Approach to Three-Dimensional Launch Vehicle Ascent Trajectory OptimizationJournal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 2021IT81citations
- Advanced preparation and processing techniques for high energy fuel AlH3Chemical Engineering Journal, 2021CN75citations
- Hybrid rocket propulsion technology for space transportation revisited - propellant solutions and challengesFirePhysChem, 2021PL75citations
More in space, air and defence
- Small satellitesUnited States leads
- Advanced aircraft enginesChina leads
- Hypersonic flightChina leads
- Drones and swarmingChina leads
- Autonomous underwater vehiclesChina leads
- Directed energyChina leads
The most technologically advanced countries, and is China ahead of the US?
How this technology is defined
A paper counts if its title or abstract matches the search below. Articles in core journals and proceedings only; retracted papers are excluded.
"launch vehicle" OR "reusable rocket" OR "rocket engine" OR "liquid rocket" OR "space launch" OR "rocket stage"and its main topic in OpenAlex is one of: Rocket and propulsion systems research; Spacecraft Dynamics and Control; Combustion and flame dynamics; Guidance and Control Systems; Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies; Combustion and Detonation Processes; Energetic Materials and Combustion; Spacecraft Design and Technology; Cavitation Phenomena in Pumps. The topic check removes papers that only mention the technology.
- Papers matched, 2021–2025
- 988
- In the top 10%
- 101
- In the top 1%
- 12
- Countries with credit
- 18
- Credit with no known country
- 6.8%
Every one of the 131 most cited papers was checked for relevance; 8 were left out as not about space launch
The most cited of those left out:
- Advanced energetic materials: novel strategies and versatile applications115 citations
- Preliminary trajectory design for NASA’s Solar Cruiser: A technology demonstration mission75 citations
- A Flagship-class Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission concept using aerocapture41 citations
- High-frequency hydrogen combustion dynamics driven by local flame displacement and multidimensional thermoacoustic interactions21 citations
- Europa Clipper Mission Design, Mission Plan, and Navigation19 citations
- Cryogenic mechanical properties and tribological behaviors of AISI stainless 316L steel cooled by liquid nitrogen10 citations
- Aditya-L1 - An Observatory Class Mission: Spacecraft, Mission, and Operations8 citations
- Heat release rate responses in self-excited thermoacoustic instabilities of tangential swirling non-premixed flames7 citations
Definition version 0.5, pilot. It is a plain text file: copy it, change it, rerun it.