Suborbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the vehicle reaches outer space but its trajectory returns to the surface of the body it launched from without completing a full orbit, so the vehicle does not become an artificial satellite and does not reach the velocity needed to escape the planet's gravity. The internationally recognized boundary of space for this purpose is the Karman line, 100 kilometers above sea level, though the United States military and NASA have historically awarded astronaut wings for flights reaching a lower threshold of 50 miles (80 kilometers). Crewed suborbital vehicles include the rocket-powered X-15 research aircraft of the 1960s and, in the twenty-first century commercial spaceflight era, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo; uncrewed suborbital flight is also the basic trajectory of intercontinental ballistic missiles and scientific sounding rockets.
Facts
Core ConcernBrief spaceflight that reaches space altitude without completing an orbit 1 Connections
Exemplified By
Source Airbus Defence and Space Spaceplane (Wikipedia)
Source ASSET (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)
Source Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator (Wikipedia)
Source Black Knight (Wikipedia)
Source Cosmopolis XXI (Wikipedia)
Source Dornier Projekt 621 (Wikipedia, German)
Source Little Joe (rocket) (Wikipedia)
Source Lockheed Martin X-33 (Wikipedia)
M51, Vehicles Source ArianeGroup: M51 strategic ballistic missile
Source Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle (Wikipedia)
Source RTV-A-2 Hiroc (Wikipedia)
Source SyLEx (French Wikipedia)
Source Viking (rocket) (Wikipedia)
Pioneered By
Source Wikipedia: Wernher von Braun
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sub-orbital Spaceflight
WikipediaNotable uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflights section
The first sub-orbital space flight was on 20 June 1944, when MW 18014, a V-2 test rocket, launched from Peenemünde in Germany and reached 176 kilometres altitude.
Lead section, Sub-orbital spaceflight article
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the vehicle reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched.
Lead sentence
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the vehicle reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched.
View the Source Wikipedia: Wernher von Braun
WikipediaPioneered By: Wernher von Braun, IntroductionQuote, Pioneered By: Wernher von Braun, Introduction
He helped design and co-developed the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde Army Research Center during World War II. The V-2 became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line on 20 June 1944.
View the Source Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator, LeadQuote, Exemplified By: Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator, Lead
was a European Space Agency (ESA) suborbital reentry vehicle
View the Source Dornier Projekt 621 (Wikipedia, German)
Exemplified By: Dornier Projekt 621, Lead, modeQuote, Exemplified By: Dornier Projekt 621, Lead, mode
Mit Projekt 621 wird ein von Dornier zu Beginn der 1960er Jahre geplantes Projekt bezeichnet, welches die Entwicklung einer an Rogallo-Flügeln zurückkehrenden Höhenforschungsrakete vorsah.
View the Source RTV-A-2 Hiroc (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: RTV-A-2 Hiroc, HistoryQuote, Exemplified By: RTV-A-2 Hiroc, History
the Hiroc reached a maximum height of 30 miles (48 km)
View the Source Lockheed Martin X-33 (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Lockheed Martin X-33, Lead, kind of aircraftQuote, Exemplified By: Lockheed Martin X-33, Lead, kind of aircraft
was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane
View the Source Airbus Defence and Space Spaceplane (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Airbus Defence and Space Spaceplane, LeadQuote, Exemplified By: Airbus Defence and Space Spaceplane, Lead
a suborbital spaceplane concept for carrying space tourists, proposed by EADS Astrium (currently Airbus Defence and Space)
View the Source Viking (rocket) (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Viking (rocket), LeadQuote, Exemplified By: Viking (rocket), Lead
returning valuable scientific data from the edge of space between 1949 and 1955
View the Source ASSET (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: ASSET (spacecraft), FlightsQuote, Exemplified By: ASSET (spacecraft), Flights
each vehicle was launched on a suborbital trajectory
View the Source Little Joe (rocket) (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Little Joe (rocket), Launch vehicle development, ballistic pathQuote, Exemplified By: Little Joe (rocket), Launch vehicle development, ballistic path
on a ballistic path over 100 miles (160 km) high
View the Source Cosmopolis XXI (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Cosmopolis XXI, Lead, launch platformQuote, Exemplified By: Cosmopolis XXI, Lead, launch platform
It would be a TSTSO (Two-Stage to SubOrbit) launch platform.
View the Source Black Knight (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Black Knight, LeadQuote, Exemplified By: Black Knight, Lead
It is the United Kingdom's first indigenous expendable launch project.
View the Source ArianeGroup: M51 strategic ballistic missile
ArianeGroupExemplified By: M51, M51 missile: a space technology concentrate, flight profileQuote, Exemplified By: M51, M51 missile: a space technology concentrate, flight profile
reaching an altitude of more than 2,000 kilometres, well beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO)
View the Source SyLEx (French Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: SyLEx, Contexte, modeQuote, Exemplified By: SyLEx, Contexte, mode
dans le cadre de vol suborbitaux
View the Source Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle (Wikipedia)
Exemplified By: Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, Lead, sub-orbital flightsQuote, Exemplified By: Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, Lead, sub-orbital flights
It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights in 1960 and 1961
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.