suborbital

American

[suhb-awr-bi-tl] / sʌbˈɔr bɪ tl /

adjective

(of a spacecraft) not in orbit; not achieving an altitude and velocity resulting in a ballistic trajectory circling the earth at least once.
Anatomy. situated below the orbit of the eye.

suborbital British

/ sʌbˈɔːbɪtəl /

adjective

(of a rocket, missile, etc) having a flight path that is less than one complete orbit of the earth or other celestial body
anatomy situated beneath the orbit of the eye

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of suborbital

First recorded in 1815–25; sub- + orbital

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The company has plans to land its first cargo flight on the moon early this year and has also shifted resources away from suborbital tourism to focus more on the moon.

From The Wall Street Journal

In January, Blue Origin said it would pause its suborbital tourism business to focus on lunar efforts.

From The Wall Street Journal

The cost of the mission, which is the 16th suborbital space tourism launch carried out by Blue Origin, has not been revealed.

From BBC

Virgin Galactic offers a similar suborbital flight experience.

From Barron's

Rival Blue Origin had already flown and recovered multiple suborbital rockets, which fly more slowly and fall back to Earth after reaching their peak altitude.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023