launch vehicle

noun

: a rocket used to launch a satellite or spacecraft

Examples of launch vehicle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Larger versions could eventually protect payloads that would otherwise be too wide to fit inside launch vehicles. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026

Dedicated launch … Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle is sized for dedicated launches of payloads like Synspective’s StriX satellites. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026

For the rest of the industry, that could put the onus on an array of nascent technologies, from unproven launch vehicles to a troubled astronaut spacecraft under development by Boeing that previously malfunctioned with two NASA astronauts aboard. — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026

Flight 14 will be Starship’s first attempt at reaching orbit, and a major milestone for the launch vehicle that has now been in development for 10 years. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1960, in the meaning defined above