spacecraft

American  

[speys-kraft, -krahft] / ˈspeɪsˌkræft, -ˌkrɑft /

noun

1. a vehicle designed for travel or operation in space beyond the earth's atmosphere or in orbit around the earth.

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spacecraft British  

/ ˈspeɪsˌkrɑːft /

noun

1. a manned or unmanned vehicle designed to orbit the earth or travel to celestial objects for the purpose of research, exploration, etc

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• spacecraft
  plural

Etymology

Origin of spacecraft

First recorded in 1955–60; space + craft

Explanation

A spacecraft is a vehicle designed to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere. In 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module was the first crewed spacecraft to land on the Moon. Rockets, space shuttles, satellites, and the International Space Station are all examples of spacecraft. Any machine, device, or vehicle that's designed to travel in outer space falls into this category, whether or not it carries humans. Spacecraft is a more scientific term than spaceship — but both words were originally used in 19th- and 20th-century science fiction.

Example Sentences

Compared with larger spacecraft, these compact satellites are much less expensive to launch.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

Charlotte Fox, a graduate systems engineer at Leonardo who studied spacecraft engineering, hosted a panel talking about careers in the space sector.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

The primary goals of the trip include testing the abilities of NASA's Orion spacecraft, as well as a rendezvous with lunar landers developed by the private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Small reactors also could be used to power spacecraft over longer distances, including to Mars.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

Eventually, Laika and her spacecraft were incinerated when their orbit decayed in April 1958.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

Related Words

• rocket
• shuttle
• space capsule
• space probe