as in aerospace plane
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Recent Examples of rocket plane
Virgin decided to move on to the Delta-class program after completing 12 flights to the edge of space—above 80 km or 50 miles, as defined by the US government—with the previous-generation VSS Unity rocket plane.
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Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
1 May 2026
These lower operating expenses are tied to Virgin Galactic's decision to suspend operations of its VSS Unity suborbital rocket plane last year to focus investment into a new series of suborbital spacecraft known as Delta-class ships.
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Stephen Clark,
Ars Technica,
28 Feb. 2025
Even after digital computers arrived, analog computers remained popular into the 1970s, especially for simulations (they were used to drive flight simulators for the X-15 [pdf] rocket plane and early spacecraft).
—
Stephen Cass,
IEEE Spectrum,
25 Mar. 2015
See All Example Sentences for rocket plane
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
1 May 2026
These lower operating expenses are tied to Virgin Galactic's decision to suspend operations of its VSS Unity suborbital rocket plane last year to focus investment into a new series of suborbital spacecraft known as Delta-class ships.
—
Stephen Clark,
Ars Technica,
28 Feb. 2025
Even after digital computers arrived, analog computers remained popular into the 1970s, especially for simulations (they were used to drive flight simulators for the X-15 [pdf] rocket plane and early spacecraft).
—
Stephen Cass,
IEEE Spectrum,
25 Mar. 2015
See All Example Sentences for rocket plane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rocket plane
Noun
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In the 1960s, the federal government also poured resources into developing a supersonic transport plane.
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Although supersonic passenger aircraft found a niche from the 1970s through the early 2000s with the Concorde, commercial supersonic transport is no longer available for the mainstream consumer marketplace today.
Noun
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Water jets sprayed mist onto the crowd of mourners, who mostly wore black, with temperatures set to reach 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a forecast from the UK’s Met Office.
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Over in the geopolitical front, fresh escalating tensions draw concern as Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine, prompting Poland to scramble jets while Finland restricted airspace.
Noun
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His plane of choice hasn't changed – the TBM Avenger, the Navy's main torpedo bomber during World War II, particularly in the Pacific theater.
Noun
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But then the development of modern high-bypass turbofan jet engines that are 75% quieter than 1960s-technology turbojets eliminated much of the controversy.
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Incorporating a turbojet complicates the drone’s design and introduces supply chain vulnerabilities.
Cite this Entry
“Rocket plane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rocket%20plane. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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