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

Comet Interceptor is due to launch in 2029 into a parking orbit, from where it will lie in wait for a suitable target -- a pristine comet from the distant Oort Cloud that surrounds our Solar System, or, unlikely but highly appealing, an interstellar object like 3I/ATLAS.

From Science Daily

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

Global Times reported that the Tianwen-1 probe lowered its altitude from its parking orbit before its lander-rover combination separated with the orbiter at around 4 p.m.

From New York Times

The orbiter then rose and returned to its parking orbit about half an hour after the separation, to provide relay communication for the landing craft combo, the Chinese space agency told Global Times.

From New York Times

The first stage, housing nine of SpaceX’s Merlin engines, does the initial heavy lifting, getting the rocket off the ground, while the second stage, with just a single Merlin engine, guides it into a parking orbit.

From The Verge