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

Perry was one of six passengers on Blue Origin’s all-women flight crew, which landed safely back on Earth after the brief suborbital trip. —Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 8 Nov. 2025

The company has also launched five suborbital test flights of its Starship megarocket so far this year. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 6 Nov. 2025

One morning, members of the Fort Greely missile defense base spot an ICBM of unknown origin on a suborbital trajectory heading straight for Chicago, baffling the country’s top intelligence and defense teams who only have 18 minutes to respond before impact. —Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 27 Oct. 2025

But the rocket system, the most powerful ever developed, still needs to conduct orbital flights around Earth — thus far, the tests have been to suborbital space. —Denise Chow, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for suborbital

• infraorbital
• postorbital
• interorbital
• periorbital
• supraorbital
• orbital

Medical 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