Submitted by jofwu t3_y9bjct in askscience
Garo5 t1_it8ltbd wrote
Reply to comment by Miss_Understands_ in How does exit area for a rocket nozzle affect thrust? by jofwu
In space the theoretic best performance would with a nozzle of an infinite size/length, so the real size comes from a tradeoff between performance and mass.
In atmosphere the size is heavily limited by the atmosphere itself as pressure differences between inside and outside of the nozzle would destroy the nozzle structure.
For example the planned Starship upper stage by SpaceX will have two kinds of engines and nozzles.
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