suborbital

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   following a trajectory that rises into space but does not complete an orbit

   The capsule made a brief suborbital flight before returning to the ocean.

2. 2
   adj

   situated or occurring beneath the eye socket

   The antelope's suborbital gland opens into a shallow pit below the eye.

Formed from Latin sub-, 'under or below,' + orbital. The anatomical sense, below the orbit of the eye, is the older one; the spaceflight sense describes a path below the speed or altitude needed to complete an orbit.

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