R7 thrust coupling (Earth-5875)

The R7 thrust couplings are a propulsion system used by the UNSC Navy to lift their spacecraft out of the atmosphere, and into orbit.

Description
Attached on the underside of a spaceship, the R7 thrust couplings is commonly employed by smaller ship classes, such as frigates, destroyers, and corvettes, to leave docking facilities at the surface of a planet. Upon propulsion, the booster packages are discarded when the ship achieved lift enough to leave the atmosphere.

Other types of ships, such as cruisers, can also use the system using enough thrust couplings at their hell, although it severely reduces the maneuverability of the vessel.

History
During the last days of the Fall of Reach, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn used four pairs of R7 couplings to land in the Asźod shipyards, on Asźod, to acquire the Auton synthetic Cortana. As she escaped, the Autumn executed a class-L flash-dock, an atmospheric maneuver restricted to ships of its size.