minitrack

[ min-i-trak ]

noun

1. a system for tracking tracking satellites, space vehicles, or rockets by means of radio waves.

Minitrack

/ ˈmɪnɪˌtræk /

noun

1. obsolete.
   a system for tracking the course of rockets or satellites by radio signals received at ground stations

Word History and Origins

Origin of minitrack¹

First recorded in 1955–60; mini(ature) + track

Example Sentences

When OSO passes over a Minitrack radio station, it is given a signal that makes the tape reverse its motion and quickly send its data down to earth.

From Time Magazine Archive

He is a thrill-seeking visitor at Northridge, outside Los Angeles, one of seven sites in California where anyone with a driver's license and a few dollars can safely savor some of the adrenaline-pumping, gut-clutching fever of Grand Prix racing�on a minitrack, in a scaled-down Formula 1 speedster.

From Time Magazine Archive

Minitrack radio transmitter that the real satellite will carry, its power suitably reduced to make up for the difference in altitude.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the first real satellite takes to space, ten Minitrack receiving stations will be ready in the U.S.,

From Time Magazine Archive