Skip to main content
OpenRocket is a free, open-source model rocket simulation application written entirely in Java. Originally developed by Sampo Niskanen in 2009 as part of his master’s thesis at what was then Helsinki University of Technology, it is fully cross-platform and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux without any additional Java installation. OpenRocket is intended for rocketeers who want to test the performance of a model rocket before actually building and flying it. The software accurately computes the aerodynamic properties of rockets and simulates their flight, returning a wide range of technical results.

​
What you can do with OpenRocket

Rocket design

Design model rockets using a wide range of body components, trapezoidal, elliptical, and free-form fins, inner components, and mass objects. See a real-time 2D representation along with size, mass, apogee, max velocity, max acceleration, stability, center of gravity (CG), and center of pressure (CP).

Flight simulation

Run one or more simulations of your rocket’s flight across different motor configurations. Each simulation uses the Runge-Kutta 4 integrator and returns a comprehensive set of flight data.

​
How this documentation is organized

This documentation is still a work in progress and some sections may be incomplete. If you would like to help improve it, see the Contribute section.
The documentation is divided into four main sections:
  1. Introduction — General information about OpenRocket, its history, its features, and how to contribute to the project.
  2. Setup — How to install and run OpenRocket on your computer.
  3. User Guide — How to use OpenRocket to design and simulate model rockets.
  4. Developer Guide — How to contribute to the development of OpenRocket.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us