orbiter

American  

[awr-bi-ter] / ˈɔr bɪ tər /

noun

U.S. Aerospace.

1. Also called space shuttle orbiter.  the crew- and payload-carrying component of the space shuttle.

2. a space probe designed to orbit a planetary body or moon.

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orbiter British  

/ ˈɔːbɪtə /

noun

1. a spacecraft or satellite designed to orbit a planet or other body without landing on it Compare lander

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Etymology

Origin of orbiter

An Americanism dating back to 1950–55; orbit + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Neither Uranus nor Neptune has ever hosted an orbiter or long-term mission, making them the only planets in the solar system that have not been closely examined over time.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

India spent $74m on the Mars orbiter Mangalyaan and $75m on last year’s historic Chandrayaan-3 – less than the $100m spent on the sci-fi thriller Gravity.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024

October’s supermoon will be slightly closer than September, or the most super of the supermoons, said Noah Petro, a lunar reconnaissance orbiter project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2024

The complex choreography of this mission, which involves a rover, a lander, a rocket, an orbiter and the coordination of two space agencies, is unprecedented.

From Salon • May 3, 2024

But not all of Mars can be viewed by Earth-based radar—only a swath between about 25° N and about 25° S. The Viking orbiter carried no radar system of its own to map the surface.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan