aerobrake

American

[air-oh-breyk] / ˈɛər oʊˌbreɪk /

verb (used without object)

aerobraked, aerobraking

(of a spacecraft or satellite) to reduce velocity by taking advantage of a planet's atmospheric drag.

Etymology

Origin of aerobrake

First recorded in 1970–75; aero- ( def. ) + brake ¹ ( def. )

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.

On Wednesday, Blue Origin also displayed an aerobrake that will help slow down and protect payloads returning to Earth.

From MarketWatch

To save fuel that would otherwise be used by firing retrorockets to ease the ship into orbit around Mars, the craft will be equipped with an aerobrake.

From Time Magazine Archive

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