launch vehicle
Orbital delivery system
A launch vehicle is a rocket or other craft designed to carry a payload—typically a satellite or spacecraft—from Earth's surface into space.
The term distinguishes the delivery system from what it delivers: The launch vehicle performed flawlessly, placing the satellite in orbit.
Most launch vehicles are expendable, discarded after a single use, though reusable designs have become increasingly viable.
Propulsion-driven spacecraft
- boosterSomething that increases strength
- payloadCarried freight or charge
- satelliteOrbiting celestial body
- spacecraftVehicle for outer space
capsule · orbiter · lander · probe · Falcon 9 · Saturn V · Ariane · Soyuz
Force driving movement forward
- thrustForceful forward motion
- stagingPreparing for presentation
- nozzleFlow-directing pipe fitting
- combustionExothermic reaction with oxygen
turbopump · cryogenics · fairing · avionics · guidance · telemetry · aerodynamics · interstage
Moment of ascent
- ignitionStarting combustion process
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- trajectoryPath of moving object
- orbitCurved celestial path
insertion · separation · deployment · reentry · splashdown · recovery · tracking · abort
rocket
Propulsion-driven spacecraft
- boosterSomething that increases strength
- payloadCarried freight or charge
- satelliteOrbiting celestial body
spacecraft · capsule · orbiter · lander · probe · Falcon 9 · Saturn V · Ariane · Soyuz · Long March
propulsion
Force driving movement forward
combustion · turbopump · cryogenics · fairing · avionics · guidance · telemetry · aerodynamics · interstage · integration
liftoff
Moment of ascent
- ignitionStarting combustion process
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- trajectoryPath of moving object
orbit · insertion · separation · deployment · reentry · splashdown · recovery · tracking · abort · nominal
Apollo
Sun deity, moonshot namesake
SpaceX · NASA · ESA · Vandenberg
- spacespace, sun, moon, stars, star
- space explorationrockets, Saturn V, satellites, mission, Falcon Heavy
- spaceflightastronaut, spacecraft, liftoff, orbit, countdown
- launchesblast off, liftoff, blastoff, ignition, countdown
- Rocket Launchesliftoff, countdown, ignition, blast off, booster
- rocketryrocket, rockets, rocket fuel, rocket engine, rocket engines
launch vehiclepayload
Carried freight or charge
spacecraft · satellite · cargo · space probe · lander
vehicle, launch, launching, launched, vehicles, launches, launcher, relaunch, vehicular