Rocket engines used to maneuver spacecraft during flight are typically smaller and less powerful than the motors used for launch vehicles. They are designed to propel and maneuver spacecraft in space. There are different types of rocket engines used for spacecraft maneuvering, including:

• Vernier Thrusters: These are rocket engines used for fine adjustments to the attitude or velocity of a spacecraft. They are used when a heavy spacecraft requires a wide range of different thrust levels for attitude or velocity control, as for maneuvering during docking with other spacecraft.

• Reaction Control System (RCS) Thrusters: These are small rocket engines used for attitude control and maneuvering in space. When an RCS thruster or main engine is ignited, the resultant gas is forced at very high speed out of the engine bell or thruster. The movement of this gas from the spacecraft is what provides the reaction force to propel it in the opposite direction.

• Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS): This is a system of hypergolic liquid-propellant rocket engines used on the Space Shuttle and the Orion MPCV. Following the retirement of the Shuttle, these engines were repurposed for use on the Orion spacecrafts service module. They are used for the first six flights of the Artemis program.

Rocket engines used for spacecraft maneuvering are selected according to mission objectives. There is no "one-size-fits-all" solution, and several rocket propulsion systems could be used for a given space mission.