noun
- The point in an orbit farthest from the body being orbited.
Usage: technical; astronomy
Examples
- The satellite reaches its apoapsis once per orbit.
- At apoapsis, the spacecraft moves more slowly than at any other point in its elliptical path.
- Engineers calculated the apoapsis altitude to be 22,000 miles above Earth.
- The Moon's apoapsis is about 252,000 miles from Earth.
- Apoapsis is the opposite of periapsis in orbital mechanics.