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A nose cone goes on the top of a rocket to decrease the drag of the rocket as it ascends. The shape of nose cones vary, and different shapes are specialized for different speeds. Some typical nose cone shapes include:
- Ogive
- Von Karman
- Conical
- Ellipsoidal
- Power series
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In addition to drag reduction, nose cones are particularly useful for storing ballast, payloads, and/or even avionics components.
Fairing
A fairing is a nose cone that is typically larger than the diameter of the overall rocket, and is designed to house different payloads inside an aerodynamic shell. For rockets going to orbit, they typically separate from the rocket during 2nd stage burn.