If you’ve ever asked, “How do I actually design a rocket engine?” there is one answer that professors, NASA veterans, and SpaceX engineers will unanimously give:

5/5 solid propellant grains. Call to action: Do you have a well-worn copy of Sutton? Drop a comment below with your favorite chapter or a story about when this book saved your design.

Use this book for the physics (which never changes), and supplement it with recent AIAA papers on 3D-printed copper alloys for combustion chambers. The 10th edition tells you why copper is good; the internet tells you how to print it. Final Verdict Rocket Propulsion Elements, 10th Edition is not a coffee table book. It is a reference you will dog-ear, spill coffee on, and tab with sticky notes. It doesn't teach you "rocket science" as a metaphor—it teaches you the actual engineering required to push mass off a planet.

If you plan to work in aerospace: Yes. If you are a hobbyist: Yes, used. If you are just curious: Borrow it from a library, but be prepared to buy your own copy after Chapter 3.