suborbital
Americanadjective
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(of a spacecraft) not in orbit; not achieving an altitude and velocity resulting in a ballistic trajectory circling the earth at least once.
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Anatomy. situated below the orbit of the eye.
adjective
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(of a rocket, missile, etc) having a flight path that is less than one complete orbit of the earth or other celestial body
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anatomy situated beneath the orbit of the eye
Etymology
Origin of suborbital
Explanation
A suborbital flight is one that goes into space but doesn't travel fast enough to stay there and go all the way around the earth. In an orbital flight, a spacecraft reaches a velocity high enough to orbit Earth, essentially "falling" continuously around the planet. Suborbital flights instead fall back to the earth's surface after briefly reaching space. This adjective is also a medical term that means "beneath the orbit of the eye." The Latin roots of suborbital are sub-, "under," and orbita, "path or track."
Vocabulary lists containing suborbital
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And in 2024, Dwight finally made it to space aboard a suborbital space tourism flight operated by Blue Origin, the private space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
In January, Blue Origin said it would pause its suborbital tourism business to focus on lunar efforts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Rival Blue Origin had already flown and recovered multiple suborbital rockets, which fly more slowly and fall back to Earth after reaching their peak altitude.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 17, 2025
Last month, in its 10th test flight, the rocket finally succeeded in a suborbital mission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2025
The suborbital flight in the capsule Shepard christened Freedom 7 lasted only fifteen minutes and twenty-two seconds and covered 303 miles, just about the distance between Hampton, Virginia, and Charleston, West Virginia.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
