Relating to or describing a flight trajectory that reaches space but does not achieve orbital velocity, meaning the spacecraft does not complete a full orbit around the Earth or another celestial body. suborbital flights typically follow a ballistic path, ascending to a high altitude before descending back to the planet's surface. These flights provide a brief period of weightlessness and a view of space without the complexity and expense of orbital missions.
Suborbital meaning with examples
- Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is designed for suborbital space tourism, offering passengers a few minutes of weightlessness and stunning views of Earth. The spacecraft climbs high, then uses its aerodynamic design to glide back down, landing horizontally like an airplane, a thrilling, but non-orbital, journey for paying customers.
- Researchers are using suborbital rockets to conduct experiments in microgravity, such as testing materials, studying combustion, and observing the behavior of liquids. These shorter missions are ideal for rapidly deploying and retrieving experimental payloads, and are less costly than orbital research facilities.
- Early astronaut training often involved suborbital flights to simulate the experience of weightlessness and the effects of acceleration and deceleration. This type of flight allowed for practice in the unique environments of space, helping to prepare the astronauts for the full orbital missions that would follow.
- The development of smaller, more cost-effective suborbital launch systems has opened opportunities for various applications, including atmospheric research and the testing of new aerospace technologies. These systems can quickly provide data without long-term space deployments.
Suborbital Synonyms
altitude flight ballistic non-orbital short-duration spaceflightSuborbital Antonyms
circumterrestrial geostationary interplanetary orbitalSuborbital Crossword Answers
9 Letters
SUBOCULAR