High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A relativistic rocket is any spacecraft that is travelling at a velocity close enough to light speed for relativistic effects to become significant. What "significant" means is a matter of context, but generally speaking a velocity of at least 50% of the speed of light (0.5c) is required. The time dilation factor, mass factor, and length contraction factor (all these factors equal the Lorentz factor) are 1.15 at 0.5c. Above this speed Einsteinian physics are required to describe motion. Below this speed, motion is approximately described by Newtonian physics and the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation can be used.