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

Rocket Lab's other nine launches to date have been conducted by HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron that allows customers to test their tech in the hypersonic flight environment. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 Nov. 2026

Some of SpaceX’s other competitors, such as Blue Origin, pivoted toward suborbital space tourism. — Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic had begun flying customers—real people with zero space experience—on suborbital missions. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026

One of the Starship upper stage's six Raptor engines shut down early during the climb to an initially suborbital trajectory. — William Harwood, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026

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