Thread: Missile and Rocket - what is the difference?

What is the difference between "missile" and "rocket". They are both "ракета" in Russian.

Missile is a flying(thrown) object, the same as projectile. A spear could be a missile
Rocket is ракета

I know people don't like wiki... anyway, it says that missile is a guided weapon system and rocket is unguided.

Does that mean that all rockets that go into space are unguided?
Must be pretty expensive gamble

Originally Posted by Doomer

Does that mean that all rockets that go into space are unguided?
Must be pretty expensive gamble

Are all the rockets going to the space weapon systems to you?

Originally Posted by Hoax

Are all the rockets going to the space weapon systems to you?

I read the first post twice and I don't see any mention of any weapon system in it
How come you think it is weapon related only?

Originally Posted by Doomer

I read the first post twice and I don't see any mention of any weapon system in it
How come you think it is weapon related only?

Show me, please, any dictionary where the word "missile" would be mantioned in the meaning "vessel".

A rocket is something that is propelled by a rocket engine and used to carry some cargo, including warheads.
A missile is something that is designed to hit a target, and not necessarily propelled by a rocket engine.

Originally Posted by Hoax

Show me, please, any dictionary where the word "missile" would be mantioned in the meaning "vessel".

A definition of missile was given twice it this thread. Please read it. (and no, it is not a guided weapon system but something else)

В общем, синонимы

missile:
1. (воен.) реактивный снаряд, ракета
2. (ист.) метательный снаряд
3. камень, палка и т.п., используемые как метательное оружие

rocket
1. ракета
2. реактивный снаряд
3. реактивный двигатель

Нас хлебом не корми - дай пободаться.

Source: Rocket - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1
a : a firework consisting of a case partly filled with a combustible composition fastened to a guiding stick and propelled through the air by the rearward discharge of the gases liberated by combustion
b : a similar device used as an incendiary weapon or as a propelling unit (as for a lifesaving line)
2
: a jet engine that operates on the same principle as the firework rocket, consists essentially of a combustion chamber and an exhaust nozzle, carries either liquid or solid propellants which provide the fuel and oxygen needed for combustion and thus make the engine independent of the oxygen of the air, and is used especially for the propulsion of a missile (as a bomb or shell) or a vehicle (as an airplane)
3
: a rocket-propelled bomb, missile, projectile, or vehicle

Source : Missile - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

: an object (as a weapon) thrown or projected usually so as to strike something at a distance <stones, artillery shells, bullets, and rockets are missiles>: as
a : guided missile
b : ballistic missile

Source: Missile - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

missile noun (Concise Encyclopedia)

Components of an infrared-homing (“heat-seeking”) air-to-air missile.—© Merriam-Webster Inc.

Rocket-propelled weapon designed to deliver an explosive warhead with great accuracy at high speed. Missiles vary from small tactical weapons effective out to only a few hundred feet to much larger strategic weapons with ranges of several thousand miles. They were not developed in any significant way until after World War II. Almost all contain some form of guidance and control mechanism and are therefore often called guided missiles. An unguided military missile, as well as any launch vehicle used to penetrate the upper atmosphere or place a satellite in space, is usually called a rocket. A propeller-driven underwater missile is called a torpedo, and a guided missile powered along a low, level flight path by an air-breathing jet engine is called a cruise missile. With the development of ICBMs, missiles became central to Cold War strategy. See also antiballistic missile, Minuteman missile, V-1 missile, V-2 missile.

missile = weapon
rocket = both

Originally Posted by Man About Town

A rocket is something that is propelled by a rocket engine and sometimes used to carry some cargo, including warheads.
A missile is something that is designed to hit a target, and not necessarily propelled by a rocket engine.

I think this is a good explanation of the difference (except that I added the word "sometimes" to the definition of rocket -- it depends on whether you consider the color-producing chemicals in a firework to be "cargo" or not). But I totally agree that "missile" implies the existence of a target.