orbital velocity

American  

noun

1. the minimum velocity at which a body must move to maintain a given orbit.

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orbital velocity British  

noun

1. the velocity required by a spacecraft, satellite, etc, to enter and maintain a given orbit

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Example Sentences

Mississippi’s children are getting off the launchpad, but they’re failing to achieve orbital velocity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

So Vikram’s task was to reduce its high orbital velocity to zero such that it would stay as close to its intended trajectory as possible, all the way until a safe touchdown.

From Scientific American • Aug. 23, 2023

That means that the impact significantly changed the moonlet's orbital velocity.

From Salon • Oct. 11, 2022

The orbital velocity of the smaller star relative to the larger is 62,000 km/h.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

That wasn’t exactly a confidence builder for the man preparing to ride it into orbit, but it was the more powerful Atlas that would be required to accelerate the Mercury capsule to orbital velocity.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly