launch vehicle

American  

noun

1. Aerospace. a rocket used to launch a spacecraft or satellite into orbit or a space probe into space.

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launch vehicle British  

noun

1. a rocket, without its payload, used to launch a spacecraft

2. another name for booster

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Etymology

Origin of launch vehicle

First recorded in 1955–1960

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

launch vehicle

It would be the second flight of its SR75 suborbital launch vehicle following a successful "lift off" in Australia.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The RLV C5 remains a paper concept, and transforming it into an operational launch vehicle would require years of additional development.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

SpaceX still designs and builds its rockets and satellites in Hawthorne, which it touts as “one of the few” places in the world where an entire launch vehicle or spacecraft is produced under one roof.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

Since the U.S. struck Iran’s three Iranian nuclear sites last summer, experts say, Iran has conducted tests of a space launch vehicle, one of which appears to have malfunctioned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

At the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, Thomas Byrdsong got a head start on the long road to the Moon by testing a model of the Saturn rocket, a launch vehicle the size of a redwood tree.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly