Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🔄 A slowing action 🛑 To slow a spacecraft 🚀 A slowing rocket
retrofire

retrofire

1 9.6
Firing a rocket engine backward to slow or change a spacecraft's path
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛtroʊfaɪər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : retropropulsión
  • After completing its orbit, the satellite executed a retrofire to decrease its speed for re-entry.

Examples

  • The mission control team confirmed that the retrofire was successful, allowing the spacecraft to decelerate safely.

  • RETROFIRE IGNITION IN T-MINUS SIX AND COUNTING.

    RocketMan (1997)

  • The astronauts monitored the retrofire process closely, ensuring their course adjustments were precise.

How Intense

retrofire
  • Specialized
1 9.6
impulse
  • Specialized
23 4.2

Surface Forms

retrofire singular
retrofires plural

Morphology

retrofire = fire (semi-transparent) = retro + fire

The prefix 'retro-' indicates backward or reverse, and 'fire' is clear, but the specific application to rocket propulsion is specialized.

Etymology

The word retrofire joins retro- ('back') and fire ('to shoot'), and it refers to the action of firing engines backward to slow down or change a spacecraft's path.