SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-turbine-no-space

Why can't a jet engine work in outer space?

There is no air to supply its oxygen.

Start playing free

  1. It would get too hot
  2. There is no air to supply oxygen ✔
  3. Its fuel would freeze solid

Why: A jet engine takes in air from around it for oxygen to burn its fuel. Rockets carry their own oxygen, so they can work in space.

Huh, didn't know that: Most of the mass in a jet's exhaust comes from the outside air it swallowed.

The dad joke
Why did the jet engine refuse the space trip? It needed some air time.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: There is no air to supply oxygen. A jet engine takes in air from around it for oxygen to burn its fuel. Rockets carry their own oxygen, so they can work in space.

  1. Gas Turbine Propulsion, NASA Glenn Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/turbine-engines
    A turbine engine does not work in outer space because there is no surrounding air.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesWhich British engineer independently developed a turbojet engine in the 1930s?Flying & DronesWhich German World War II jet had about 1,400 examples produced?Flying & DronesIn a turboprop engine, how does the turbine turn the propeller?

That's stuff everyone should know.