Model and high-power rockets are designed to be safely recovered and flown repeatedly. The most common recovery methods are parachute and streamer. The parachute is usually blown out when the engine's recoil creates pressure and pops off the nose cone. The parachute is attached to the nose cone, making it pull the parachute out, and make a soft landing.

Featherweight recovery

The simplest approach, which is only appropriate for the tiniest of rockets, is to let the rocket flutter back to earth after ejecting the motor. This is slightly different from tumble recovery, which relies on some system to destablize the rocket to prevent from entering a ballistic trajectory on its way back to earth.

Tumble recovery

Another simple approach appropriate for small rockets--or rockets with a large cross-sectional area--is to have the rocket tumble back to earth. Any rocket which will enter a stable, ballistic trajectory as it falls is not safe to use with tumble recovery. To prevent this, some such rockets use the ejection charge to slide the engine to the rear of the rocket, moving the center of mass behind the center of pressure and thus making the rocket unstable.

Nose-blow recovery

Another very simple recovery technique, used in very early models in the 1950s and occasionally in modern examples, is nose-blow recovery. This is where the ejection charge of the motor ejects the nose cone of the rocket (usually attached by a shock cord made of rubber, Kevlar string or another type of cord) from the body tube, destroying the rocket's aerodynamic profile, causing highly-increased drag, and reducing the rocket's airspeed to a safe rate for landing. Nose-blow recovery is generally only suitable for very light rockets.

Parachute/Streamer

A typical hassle with parachute recovery.

The approach used most often in small model rockets, but can be used with larger rocket models given the size of the parachute greatly increases with the size of the rocket. It uses the ejection charge of the motor to deploy, or push out, the parachute or streamer. Typically, a ball or mass of fireproof paper or material is inserted into the body before the parachute or streamer. This allows the ejection charge to propel the fire-proof material, parachute, and nose cone without damaging the recovery equipment. Air resistance slows the rocket's fall, ending (hopefully) in a smooth, controlled and gentle landing.

[edit] Glide recovery

In glide recovery, the ejection charge either deploys an airfoil (wing) or separates a glider from the motor. If properly trimmed, the rocket/glider will enter a spiral glide and return safely. In some cases, radio-controlled rocket gliders are flown back to the earth by a pilot in much the way as R/C model airplanes are flown.

Some rockets (typically long thin rockets) are the proper proportions to safely glide to Earth tail-first. These are termed 'backsliders'.

[edit] Helicopter recovery

The ejection charge, through one of several methods, deploys helicopter-style blades and the rocket auto-rotates back to earth. The helicopter recovery usually happens when the engine's recoil creates pressure, making the nose cone pop out. There are rubber bands connected to the nosecone and 3 or more blades. The rubber bands pull the blades out, and let them 'copter down.