Four Stage Rocket

The first stage of a rocket generates a lot of thrust which becomes too much as the fuel is depleted and the rocket gets lighter. The engines are turned off to keep the acceleration to an acceptable level. Adding more stages can be another alternative. Generate just enough thrust in each stage so that no engine needs to be turned off.

I thought of a four-stage rocket. First two stages would accelerate the rocket in earth’s atmosphere. The remaining two would mainly operate in vacuum. First two stages would have wings attached to them which would be optimized for their cruising altitude and speed. Once, one of these stages deplete their fuel, the successive stage would fire and push back the previous stage behind. This would also melt away the stage separation section. The depleted section would glide towards the sea with the help of its wings. In the meanwhile, the engine openings towards the nozzle would be sealed by polyurethane foam like material, to prevent the sea water entering the engine. The light weight empty stage would float on water once it lands on it. Then, it would be recovered by ships and refurbished for reuse. Unlike, current reusable rockets which can only be recovered on LEO missions. The rocket I propose do not require fuel to land and can be utilized on all missions, like the space shuttle.

The wings on the rocket will also allow it to take off from the ground with an angle like the planes. This also reduces the takeoff thrust requirement for the rocket.

At the moment, the rockets mainly have two stages, which I guess is not enough for deep space exploration.