Sub-orbital spaceflight

A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. Manned and unmanned sub-orbital flights have been undertaken to test spacecraft and launch vehicles intended for later orbital flight, but some vehicles have been designed exclusively to reach space sub-orbitally: manned vehicles such as the X-15 and SpaceShipOne, and unmanned ones such as ICBMs and sounding rockets.

See also

• Rocket launch site
• Office of Commercial Space Transportation