launch vehicle

noun

: a rocket used to launch a satellite or spacecraft

Examples of launch vehicle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Dedicated launch … Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle is sized for dedicated launches of payloads like Synspective’s StriX satellites. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026

For the rest of the industry, that could put the onus on an array of nascent technologies, from unproven launch vehicles to a troubled astronaut spacecraft under development by Boeing that previously malfunctioned with two NASA astronauts aboard. — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026

The world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle, SpaceX’s Starship, has just launched into orbit for the first time and deployed 26 of the company’s higher-performing Starlink V3 internet satellites. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026

Flight 14 will be Starship’s first attempt at reaching orbit, and a major milestone for the launch vehicle that has now been in development for 10 years. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1960, in the meaning defined above