orbital velocity

American  

noun

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

---

orbital velocity British  

noun

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

---

Example Sentences

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

From The Wall Street Journal

Astronauts journeying a billion and a half miles to one of Saturn’s moons, Titan, will need a whip-around gravity assist — the “slingshot” in question — from Jupiter’s orbital velocity in order to make it all the way.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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

From Salon

The spacecraft will measure this effect on Apophis, as well as any changes in the asteroid’s orbital velocity and rotation arising from its 2029 Earth encounter.

From Scientific American