retrorocket

American  

[re-troh-rok-it] / ˈrɛ troʊˌrɒk ɪt /

Or retro-rocket

noun

1. a small, auxiliary rocket engine, forming a part of a larger rocket vehicle and having its exhaust nozzle pointed toward the direction of flight, for decelerating the larger rocket, separating one stage from another, etc.

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retrorocket British  

/ ˈrɛtrəʊˌrɒkɪt /

noun

1. Often shortened to: retro.  a small auxiliary rocket engine on a larger rocket, missile, or spacecraft, that produces thrust in the opposite direction to the direction of flight in order to decelerate the vehicle or make it move backwards

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Etymology

Origin of retrorocket

First recorded in 1945–50; retro- + rocket ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retrorocket

Moscow time, said Gagarin, he was over Africa, and the spaceship's automatic controls signaled that back in Russia preparations were being made to turn on a braking device, presumably a retrorocket.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mariner 9 fired its retrorocket and went into a looping orbit around the red planet, swinging as close as 800 miles to the Martian surface.

From Time Magazine Archive

He made the adjustments necessary to keep the retrorocket packet in place, hand-flew his capsule into proper attitude for descent—and braced himself.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the radar sensed that Surveyor was precisely 52 miles above the moon, it fired a powerful, solid-fuel retrorocket that slowed the craft from 5,840 m.p.h. to only 267 m.p.h. in 40 seconds.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus a smaller retrorocket will be needed to slow Pioneer down to the speed necessary for it to slip into its orbit around Venus.

From Time Magazine Archive