Suborbitali

Suborbitali is a term used in aerospace to describe missions, flight profiles, or vehicles that reach space but do not complete an orbit around the Earth. In practice, suborbital flights follow a ballistic or quasi-ballistic trajectory that ascends to a high apogee, experiences a portion of microgravity or near-space conditions, and then reenters the atmosphere for a landing. The boundary between space and air is commonly defined as about 100 kilometers above Earth by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), though some definitions used in the United States refer to 80 kilometers; a suborbital flight may cross these thresholds but does not achieve a stable, closed orbit.

Suborbital trajectories are contrasted with orbital missions, which require sufficient horizontal velocity to maintain a continuous orbit around the planet. Suborbital flights therefore do not complete a full circumnavigation of Earth and return to a landing site after a fraction of a complete orbit.

Common uses of suborbital flight include scientific experimentation, technology demonstrations, and space tourism. Vehicles range from sounding rockets and ballistic missiles adapted for research to spaceplanes and air-launched systems that reach space and then glide or perform a controlled descent. Notable historical examples include the X-15 rocket plane, which met suborbital criteria, and modern programs such as Blue Origin’s New Shepard and Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, which actively market suborbital experiences and experiments.

Operational and safety considerations involve launch licensing, payload certification, atmospheric reentry heating, and recovery operations. Suborbital programs continue to contribute to research, education, and commercial access to near-space environments.