The type of rocket engine used to maneuver a spacecraft during flight and adjust its trajectory is called maneuvering thrusters (often part of the Reaction Control System, or RCS).

What these engines are

Maneuvering thrusters are small rocket engines mounted around a spacecraft that provide precise control of its motion in space.

They are used for:

  • Small trajectory changes (speeding up, slowing down, or slight course corrections)
  • Attitude control (pointing the spacecraft in a specific direction: roll, pitch, yaw)
  • Station keeping (holding a stable orbit or position, for example at a Lagrange point)

A simple example is a spacecraft rotating to point its antenna toward Earth or its instruments toward a planet; this is usually done with these thrusters rather than the main engine.

Common types of maneuvering engines

In practice, “maneuvering thrusters” can use different technologies, depending on the mission:

  • Cold gas thrusters – release stored gas through a nozzle; very simple but relatively low performance.
  • Monopropellant thrusters – use a single liquid propellant (often hydrazine) that decomposes over a catalyst to produce hot gas and thrust; widely used for reaction control systems.
  • Bipropellant thrusters – use fuel and oxidizer, similar to a main rocket engine but smaller; used when higher performance is needed.

For instance, the James Webb Space Telescope uses hydrazine monopropellant thrusters for maneuvering and momentum management in orbit.

How this fits with the main engine

The large main rocket engines (like those on launch vehicles or big upper stages) provide the major boosts, such as launch from Earth or big orbital insertion burns.

Once in space, however, fine-tuning the path and orientation is usually done by the smaller maneuvering thrusters, because they offer precise control and can be fired in short pulses.

TL;DR:
When people ask “what type of rocket engine is used to maneuver a spacecraft during flight,” the standard answer is maneuvering thrusters , typically implemented as small monopropellant or cold-gas reaction control thrusters distributed around the spacecraft.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.