boost phase

noun

Rocketry.

1. the portion of the flight of a ballistic missile or spacecraft during which the booster and sustainer engines operate to bring it near or to peak velocity.

Example Sentences

“Large doses of autonomy and artificial intelligence are needed to achieve an effective, near-instant, response. The goal is boost phase or early ascent phase intercept. Destroying an enemy missile over enemy territory, especially if it is armed with a weapon of mass destruction, is a very good thing.”

From Washington Times

Indeed, an ICBM's trajectory has three different phases: boost phase, midcourse phase, and terminal phase, all of which typically occur in less than an hour from launch to strike.

From Salon

Wells added there is a concern that intercepting during the boost phase could detonate the warhead in a friendly territory.

From Salon

The test objectives include “assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during the boost phase of the flight,” the company said in a statement.

From Washington Post

"The Russian triad is more complex and varied than its U.S. counterpart. While all U.S. ground-based missiles are currently in silos, and therefore easy targets, Russian ground-based missiles, such as Topol-M and Yars are mobile, and therefore a lot harder to take out in the initial boost phase of flight."

From Fox News