Sub-orbital spaceflight
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A sub-orbital spaceflight is a flight that crosses the Kármán line. However, it does not gain enough speed to go to orbit.
Sub-orbital Spaceflight Media
Isaac Newton's Cannonball. Paths A and B depict a sub-orbital trajectory.
Profile for the first crewed American sub-orbital flight, 1961. Launch rocket lifts the spacecraft for the first 2:22 minutes. Dashed line: zero gravity.
Science and Mechanics cover of November 1931, showing a proposed sub-orbital spaceship that would reach an altitude 700 miles (1,100 km) on its one hour trip from Berlin to New York.
The X-15 (1958–1968) was launched to an altitude of 13.7 km by a B-52 mothership, lifted itself to approximately 100 km, and then glided to the ground.
