parking orbit

American  

noun

Aerospace.

1. a temporary orbit in which a spacecraft awaits the next phase of its mission.

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parking orbit British  

noun

1. an orbit around the earth or moon in which a spacecraft can be placed temporarily in order to prepare for the next step in its programme

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Etymology

Origin of parking orbit

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

It was a crucial last step for JWST’s journey through the cosmos, capping off a 30-day voyage from the launchpad to its parking orbit roughly 1 million miles from Earth.

From The Verge • Jan. 25, 2022

It will spend about two months in a parking orbit, waiting for the best timing and surface conditions to land.

From Scientific American • Jul. 15, 2020

Johnson later contributed calculations to the parking orbit of Apollo 11’s command and service module during the first crewed Moon landing.

From Nature • Mar. 11, 2020

Next, the second-stage Agena B rocket fired Mariner II into an 18,000-m.p.h. "parking" orbit.

From Time Magazine Archive

Twenty-one hours on the surface of the Moon for two astronauts in the lunar lander, while the service module circled the heavenly body in a parking orbit.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly