Launch Pad
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
launch pad
[′lȯnch ‚pad] (aerospace engineering)
The load-bearing base or platform from which a rocket vehicle is launched. Also known as launching pad; pad.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Launch Pad
the site where rockets are launched; the launcher and launch system on which it is mounted; part of the launch complex of a cosmodrome. In some cases, rockets are assembled vertically on the launch pad from individual stages that have been tested and prepared for assembly at an installation and testing site. Payloads may also be installed on the launch pad.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.