The thruster used to steer a spacecraft in a certain direction. The Ariane 5 rocket had six small steering thrusters on its upper stage to keep it aimed correctly during the launch.

Two Mir cosmonauts had to end their extravehicular activity on 6 April 1998 when a steering thruster, used to point the space station towards the Sun, ran out of fuel, and they had to return to activate a replacement engine.