Electrification of a rocket during its launch and motion in the atmosphere along active part of the trajectory

We studied the process of electrification of a rocket during launch and flight in the atmosphere at the active part of its trajectory. The values of charge, field strength, and rocket potential at the launch are estimated. Charging and discharging currents are determined for a rocket flying through clouds and precipitation, and solutions expressing the time variation of the rocket’s charge are found. The values of charge, field strength, and rocket potential are obtained as functions of time, together with the engine plume represented as a charged plasma structure. The rocket’s charge is shown to tend to an equilibrium state, and the time of reaching it is found. Mechanisms limiting the charge value are considered, and the conditions of origination of an electric breakdown (lightning) between the rocket and atmosphere are determined.