launch vehicle

noun

: a rocket used to launch a satellite or spacecraft

Examples of launch vehicle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The launch vehicle, regarded as the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is the centerpiece of Musk's vision of sending the first humans to Mars, and is also critical in NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon's surface. Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025 But Starship is a profoundly more complex design than that partly reusable launch vehicle, in part because Musk’s ultimate ambition for Starship is to use it to colonize Mars. PC Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025 Official images showed missile launch vehicles deployed in formation, firing missiles at targets at sea. Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025 The supply chains, construction methods and institutional capabilities that built the Apollo launch vehicles no longer exist. Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 12 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for launch vehicle

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of launch vehicle was circa 1960

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Cite this Entry

“Launch vehicle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/launch%20vehicle. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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