booster rocket
1
5.3
- noun
- /ˈbuːstər ˈrɒkɪt/
- Specialized
:
cohete de refuerzo
- The engineer explained how the booster rocket provides the initial thrust needed for the spacecraft to escape Earth’s atmosphere.
One second without booster rockets, without all the dangers of radiation or weightlessness.
- One second without booster rockets, without all the dangers of radiation or weightlessness.
Examples
-
After burning all their fuel, the booster rockets would drop off and be recovered, refurbished, and reused.
Academic text (2011) -
Then we use the Discovery as a booster rocket for the launch.
-
Today, the U.S. government is funding three projects to develop new, less costly booster rockets.
Academic text (1998) -
One of the most expensive components of the Shuttle system was the booster rocket.
Academic text (2011) -
The booster rockets sputter and die.
Fiction book (1998) -
The booster rocket would carry the orbiter to staging velocity and then would drop off and be piloted back to a runway.
Academic text (2011) -
During the launch of the satellite, the booster rocket ignited and propelled the vehicle into orbit.
-
After the booster rocket burned its fuel, it was jettisoned to allow the next stage of the rocket to continue into space.
Synonyms
30
5.8
The first part of a rocket that gives the strong push to lift it off
The first part of a rocket that gives a strong push at launch
The first part of a rocket that gives the strong push needed to lift it off
A powerful first part of a space vehicle that lifts it off the ground
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: a 'booster rocket' is simply a rocket that provides the initial boosting thrust, which follows from combining 'booster' (something that boosts/provides thrust) with 'rocket' (a rocket). This noun–noun compound follows standard English composition patterns and has clear equivalents in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily understand it.
Etymology
Booster rocket comes from the idea of a booster giving a strong push to the rocket at the start of a flight. After the booster uses its fuel, it is dropped, so the phrase means 'a rocket that gives the first push' and then is 'dropped'.