launch vehicle
Americannoun
noun
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a rocket, without its payload, used to launch a spacecraft
-
another name for booster
Etymology
Origin of launch vehicle
First recorded in 1955–1960
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.
If SpaceX achieves that goal, it could become the most powerful and cost effective launch vehicle ever built.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Lastly, $370 billion comes from space-enabled solutions such as the Starship launch vehicle.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
Virgin Galactic is targeting the release of a second launch vehicle, with two more Delta spacecraft, by 2030.
From Barron's ● Apr. 6, 2026
New Shepard, Blue Origin's reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle, took off from the company's Texas launch pad at 14:15 GMT.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
Over the course of the decade, a series of space missions confirmed that the idea of having a launch vehicle that separated from the mother ship would, in fact, work.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
