What is a gravity turn?

A rocket launches straight up to get out of the thickest air quickly, but going up is not the goal — going sideways fast enough to orbit is. So it has to turn.

Rather than fight its way round, it makes a small nudge early on and then lets gravity do the work. With the vehicle pointed slightly off vertical, gravity pulls the nose gradually further over on its own.

This costs almost no fuel and keeps the rocket pointed into the airflow, which matters enormously: turning sideways in thick air would tear the vehicle apart.