lander

American  

[lan-der] / ˈlæn dər /

noun

1. a space probe designed to land on a planet or other solid celestial body.

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lander British  

/ ˈlændə /

noun

1. a spacecraft designed to land on a planet or other body Compare orbiter

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Etymology

Origin of lander

First recorded in 1960–65; land + -er ¹

Example Sentences

The astronauts will require a second vehicle to descend to the moon's surface, a lunar lander that remains under development by rival space companies owned by billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

From Barron's

Odysseus was the first privately funded lander to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.

From Barron's

Nasa has picked two rival commercial landers for Artemis: SpaceX's Starship and a craft designed by Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin, and will decide closer to the time which vehicles fly which missions.

From BBC

The mission is to be followed by Artemis 3 with the goal of "rendezvous in low-Earth orbit" of at least one lunar lander.

From Barron's

The announced changes mean that Artemis 3, which was meant to send astronauts to the Moon's surface, will now have the different test goal of "rendezvous in low-Earth orbit" of at least one lunar lander.

From Barron's