payload

American  

[pey-lohd] / ˈpeɪˌloʊd /

noun

payloads plural

1. the part of a cargo producing revenue or income, usually expressed in weight.

2. the number of paying passengers, as on an airplane.

3. Aerospace, Military.

   1. the bomb load, warhead, cargo, or passengers of an aircraft, a rocket, missile, etc., for delivery at a target or destination.

   2. the total complement of equipment carried by a spacecraft for the performance of a particular mission in space.

   3. the explosive energy of the warhead of a missile or of the bomb load of an aircraft.

      a payload of 50 megatons.

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payload British  

/ ˈpeɪˌləʊd /

noun

1. that part of a cargo earning revenue

2. 1. the passengers, cargo, or bombs carried by an aircraft

   2. the equipment carried by a rocket, satellite, or spacecraft

3. the explosive power of a warhead, bomb, etc, carried by a missile or aircraft

   a missile carrying a 50-megaton payload

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• payloads
  plural

Etymology

Origin of payload

First recorded in 1925–30; pay ¹ + load

Explanation

Payload is what a vehicle carries. If you have a plane with a payload of one ton, then that plane can carry one ton (including you and the snacks you may bring aboard). Often, payload is estimated to be everything on board a vehicle that's worth money, or that produces income for the vehicle's owner. In the case of a commercial jet, that might be all the paying passengers. In other cases, a truck, ship, or plane's payload includes every single person and item on board, including the flight crew and fuel. From about 1936, payload frequently referred to bombs carried by a military plane or missile.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

payload payloads

Based on their data from operating drones on Everest, its payload would likely drop to about a third of that on the mountain, just a fraction of the Chinese drone’s capability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

In a statement, SpaceX said the vehicle and its payload “remain safe.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

By comparison, the partially reusable RLV C5 would dedicate about 74% of its mass to payload.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

The Long March 10B, which can carry a payload of at least 16 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, has been compared to SpaceX's Falcon 9.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The Enola Gay dropped its payload, the uranium bomb christened Little Boy.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

If all goes to plan, the Indian test launch mission called Aagman - Sanskrit for arrival - will place into orbit six payloads.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

"It's akin to having weather stations in different locations on Earth. These three payloads are flight-proven and their data is critical to supporting safe human exploration of the lunar surface."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

The Long March rocket can deliver payloads of 16 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, according to CASC, putting it in the same weight class as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 workhorse.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

The awards total nearly $600 million to land science payloads as part of an effort to build a permanent U.S. presence on the moon.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

From the three sabotaged machines, the payloads veered sideways, arcing towards the barrage from the other three onagers.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan