Assess students' ability to apply thermodynamics and the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation to design and optimize multi‑stage rocket missions: construct delta‑v budgets (including gravity and aerodynamic losses), compute multi‑stage Tsiolkovsky solutions for stage mass ratios and payload fraction, select specific impulses and propellant combinations, determine propellant and structural mass allocations, and justify staging and engine/nozzle trade‑offs (Isp vs engine mass, propellant density, thermal limits). Problems require quantitative optimization (maximize payload or minimize launch mass) and qualitative thermodynamic reasoning about exhaust velocity, chamber temperature, and nozzle efficiency.