suborbital
adjective
sub·or·bit·al
ˌsəb-ˈȯr-bə-tᵊl 
1
: situated beneath the eye or the orbit of the eye
2
: being or involving less than one orbit (as of the earth or moon)
also
: intended for suborbital flight
Examples of suborbital in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The company also launched five suborbital test flights of Starship, a fully reusable vehicle that's the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.
—
Mike Wall, Space.com, 31 Dec. 2025
But New Mexico's role in aerospace isn't just a thing of the past, as is evident at Spaceport America—the world's first facility designed for commercial suborbital space travel.
—Sharael Kolberg, Travel + Leisure, 30 Dec. 2025
The New Shepard mission itself lasted roughly 10 minutes – during the flight, the rocket accelerated Benthaus and her five crewmates to more than three times the speed of sound, carrying the capsule beyond the Kármán Line on a brief suborbital trajectory.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 21 Dec. 2025
Moskowitz has reported live from rocket launches, space shuttle liftoffs and landings, suborbital spaceflight training, mountaintop observatories, and more.
—Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suborbital
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Mike Wall, Space.com, 31 Dec. 2025
But New Mexico's role in aerospace isn't just a thing of the past, as is evident at Spaceport America—the world's first facility designed for commercial suborbital space travel.
—Sharael Kolberg, Travel + Leisure, 30 Dec. 2025
The New Shepard mission itself lasted roughly 10 minutes – during the flight, the rocket accelerated Benthaus and her five crewmates to more than three times the speed of sound, carrying the capsule beyond the Kármán Line on a brief suborbital trajectory.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 21 Dec. 2025
Moskowitz has reported live from rocket launches, space shuttle liftoffs and landings, suborbital spaceflight training, mountaintop observatories, and more.
—Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suborbital
Cite this Entry
“Suborbital.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suborbital. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
suborbital
adjective
sub·or·bit·al
ˌsəb-ˈȯr-bət-ᵊl
: situated or occurring beneath the eye or the orbit of the eye
suborbital fat
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