suborbital
3
8.2
- adjective
- /ˌsʌbˈɔːrbɪtəl/
- Specialized
:
suborbital
- The emergence of entrepreneurial space ventures has fostered demand for a separate class of space facilities devoted to commercial orbital and suborbital launches.
- suborbital flight
- suborbital rocket
- suborbital spaceflight
Our first astronaut, Alan Shepard, who flew A suborbital flight, followed Gagarin by only three weeks after Shepherd's flight.
- Our first astronaut, Alan Shepard, who flew A suborbital flight, followed Gagarin by only three weeks after Shepherd's flight.
Examples
-
Plans call for the autonomously operated, suborbital aerospace plane to be dropped from an L-1011 airliner.
Academic text (1998) -
Although commercial spaceports are still in their infancy, the steady growth in the number of vehicles under development that aim to serve both the commercial orbital and reusable suborbital launch sector promises significant markets.
Academic text (2008) -
"It's not designed for suborbital flight," he said.
Fiction book (1999) -
The suborbital rocket itself was gone.
Fiction book (1997) -
Suborbital spaceflights will offer millions of people the opportunity to experience space travel.
Academic text (2008) -
I remember when I was a small boy, watching the first Mercury suborbital launch of Alan Shepard into space.
Blog text (19) -
Rather than develop something like this, why not use suborbital ballistic trajectories to deliver people around the world?
Blog text (16) -
Beyond that, in this post-Concorde world, suborbital travel is conceivably the next phase in airline travel.
Blog text (6) -
The Chicago-based company PlanetSpace Inc. does not tend to orbital flights, but may use a suborbital Earth transit system to quickly reach anywhere.
Blog text (7) -
During the suborbital flight, passengers experienced weightlessness for a few minutes before returning to Earth.
Antonyms
How High
- Specialized
- Specialized
39
6.3
- Specialized
3
8.2
20
4.2
87
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Suborbital comes from sub- 'under' and orbit 'a path around something', like the path a planet or satellite takes. So, a suborbital flight goes up toward space but stays 'under' a full orbit and returns to Earth.