Spaceships and rockets
Design a rocket, a multistage rocket, a flying saucer, a spaceplane, a wedge cruiser or a lander. Choose the nose shape, fins, bands, windows and engines, stand it up or lay it down, and build it layer by layer. Click blocks you have placed to keep track of where you are.
Size
Fins and extras
Finish
Front and side view show the ship from the side; darker is further away. Click a layer to view it on the right. The top view shows everything from above.
Build breakdown
Per layer, from top to bottom
Size = width × depth of what stands on that layer. Click a layer to view it.
| Layer | Size | Parts | Blocks |
|---|
Parts and blocks
The block for each part depends on the colours. Windows and light blocks always stay glass and light, even with a block palette.
| Part | Block | Count | Stacks |
|---|
Build tips
- First put a pole on the axis up to the tip of the nose. You measure every ring of the hull from it.
- Build a lying ship on a scaffold a few blocks high. Then you can finish the underside too.
- White and red concrete make a classic rocket. For science fiction, deepslate, grey concrete and cyan light work well.
- Light blocks in the nozzles look like fire. Shroomlight gives an orange glow, a sea lantern a cool blue light.
- Build a saucer from the inside out: first the middle column at full thickness, then ring after ring towards the rim.
- A lying cruiser is often wider than you think. Mark the bow and the two back corners with wool first.
3D and layer-by-layer build plan
To Minecraft
Download the design as a schematic file and paste it into your world with WorldEdit, or rebuild it from a hologram in Litematica. Every part gets the block from the chosen colours. Turn on your block palette to pick blocks yourself; windows and light blocks then stay glass and light.
Shopping list
Add the amounts of this design to your list. There you see everything together, converted to stacks and shulker boxes.
How it is calculated
History and fun facts
From fire arrow to rocket
In China, fire arrows with gunpowder were made centuries ago. They worked like a rocket: hot gases shoot out at the back, and the arrow flies forward.
Around 1900, the Russian teacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky calculated how a rocket could reach space. In 1926, the American Robert Goddard launched the first rocket with liquid fuel. It flew for only a few seconds, but it was the start of spaceflight.
Multi-stage rockets
A rocket must carry a huge amount of fuel. That is why Tsiolkovsky came up with rockets in stages. When a stage is empty, it drops off and the rocket becomes lighter.
The Saturn V, which carried the Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon in 1969, had three stages and was about 110 metres tall. Many modern rockets have extra boosters on the sides for the first minutes of the flight. Next to the rocket stands a launch tower that the crew uses to climb aboard.
The classic rocket from comics and films
In the 1950s, everyone dreamed of travelling to space. Rockets in comics and films were slim, with a pointed nose and three or four fins. The red and white chequered Moon rocket from Hergé's Tintin books is a famous example.
Some real test rockets also had a chequered pattern. This helped people on the ground see whether the rocket was rolling.
Flying saucers
In 1947, the American pilot Kenneth Arnold said he had seen strange objects flying. Newspapers then called them 'flying saucers'.
Since then, the saucer has been the best-known image of a spaceship from another world. You see them in films such as Independence Day, where huge mother ships hang above cities.
Space shuttles, cruisers and landers
The American Space Shuttle flew from 1981 to 2011. It launched like a rocket and landed like an aeroplane on a runway. The black tiles on its belly protected it from the heat when it came back into the atmosphere.
The Apollo lunar module had four legs and was partly covered in gold-coloured foil against heat and cold. Mars landers such as Viking (1976) stand on three legs. And the wedge-shaped cruisers from films such as Star Wars gave science fiction a look of its own.
Did you know?
- The Saturn V was about 110 metres tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty with its pedestal.
- Robert Goddard launched his first liquid-fuel rocket on 16 March 1926 in Massachusetts.
- The Space Shuttle made 135 flights between 1981 and 2011.
- The first people on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on 20 July 1969.
- Hergé drew Tintin's red and white Moon rocket in the books Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon (1953 to 1954).
About this tool
With this Minecraft spaceship planner you design a rocket or spaceship and build it layer by layer. Choose a classic rocket, a multi-stage rocket, a flying saucer, a delta-wing space shuttle, a wedge-shaped cruiser or a lander on legs.
You set the height, the diameter and the number of stages. For the nose you choose a cone, an ogive or a round shape. You add 3, 4 or 6 fins, 2 to 4 boosters and a launch tower beside it. For the finish you choose a band below the nose, rings, a chequerboard or stripes along the length, rows of windows, 1 to 7 engines and a nozzle. There are eight colour sets, from white with red to grey with gold foil. The ship can stand up or lie flat, hollow or filled.
Want a quick start? Pick one of sixteen examples, such as the red and white chequered rocket, a 1950s retro rocket, a three-stage rocket with a launch tower, a large mother ship, a space shuttle or a Moon lander with gold foil. The layer plan shows every block, and you can view the ship in 3D and from the front, the side and above.
The tool counts all the blocks per part and converts them into stacks. With the block palette you choose your own blocks; windows and light blocks stay glass and light. With the .schem download you paste the ship into your world with WorldEdit or Litematica. That way you build a rocket in Minecraft for your launch pad, space base or science fiction city.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a rocket in Minecraft?
First place a pole on the centre line, up to the tip of the nose. You measure every ring of the hull from there. Then build layer by layer from bottom to top, and add the fins and boosters once the hull is standing.
Which nose shape should I choose?
A cone is straight and pointed. An ogive curves outward first and then ends in a point, like a bullet or a classic rocket. A round nose fits a retro rocket or a capsule. With the nose length you make it slimmer or shorter.
How do I make fire come out of the engines?
Put light blocks in the nozzles. A shroomlight gives an orange glow, a sea lantern a cool blue light. You can also place campfires below the engines for smoke, but be careful that a wooden rocket does not catch fire.
How do I build a lying ship or a saucer?
Build a lying ship on a scaffold a few blocks high, so you can finish the underside too. Build a saucer from the inside out: first the middle column at full thickness, then ring after ring toward the edge.
How many blocks do I need?
The top shows the total in blocks and stacks. Below the layer plan there is a table per part with the block, the count and the stacks. Choose Hollow instead of Filled to save a lot of blocks.
Can I build this in Bedrock?
Yes, the layer plan works in every edition. The .schem file is for Java Edition with WorldEdit or Litematica. Want a station to fly to as well? Go to Space stations.