"Commissioned by the European Space Agency, this book details specific propulsion technologies as envisioned by 2020. Each technology has been considered in terms of concept, associated key technologies, development status and proposed roadmaps. The reader is led through all the steps that propulsion will likely take between now and the 2020s in a clear, concise, and detailed way, including market and feasibility perspectives when applicable. The 16 chapters follow a developmental logic. The material starts with the future of SRM, grounded on R&D done at present, goes through the development of LOX/HC liquid rocket engines, a technology based on U.S. and Russian work of the 60s and 70s. It then looks into future technologies, and systems just beginning to make their impact felt now, such as superconductivity applied to electric propulsion, MW-class ion engines (perhaps utilizing a nuclear power source), solar sails, laser propulsion, nuclear propulsion (such as the promising VASIMR), and ISRU." This revised edition as a practical, hands-on book discusses the range of launch vehicles in use today throughout the world, and includes the very latest details of some of the advanced propulsion systems currently being developed. The author covers the fundamentals of the subject, from the basic principles of rocket propulsion and vehicle dynamics through the theory and practice of liquid and solid propellant motors, to new and future developments. The revised edition will stick to the same principle of providing a serious exposition of the principles and practice of rocket propulsion, but from the point of view of the user and enquirer who is not an engineering specialist. Most chapters will remain substantially the same as the first edition; they will be updated where necessary and errata corrected. The main revisions will be to the chapter on electric propulsion where there have been significant new developments both in engine types and in practical applications. This is now seen as the key to planetary exploration by robotic probes and should therefore be reflected. Nuclear propulsion has emerged from the doldrums and is now seen as a definite possibility for outer solar system robotic exploration; and as enabling technology for a human mars expedition. A new chapter on nuclear thermal propulsion has been added to reflect this revival of interest. Table of Contents: Principles of Rocket Propulsion.- The Thermal Rocket Engine.- Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines.- Solid Propellant Rocket Motors.- Launch Vehicle Dynamics.- Electric Propulsion.- New chapter on Nuclear Propulsion.- Advanced Thermal Rockets.