service module

American  

noun

1. (often initial capital letters) the section of an Apollo spacecraft containing the principal propulsion system, electrical system, water, and other supplies.

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service module British  

noun

1. a section of an Apollo spacecraft housing the rocket engine, radar, fuel cells, etc, and jettisoned on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere See also lunar module command module

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Etymology

Origin of service module

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

This summer, engineers plan to join Orion's crew module and service module and install the spacecraft's docking system, which will fly for the first time.

From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026

The service module on the Orion spacecraft was provided by the European Space Agency, and Mr. Kshatriya notes that “a lot of the component-level aspects of even that machine are made in America.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Ms. Harris said the European Space Agency built the service module that will carry Artemis astronauts to the moon and that Europe, Japan and Canada will make “significant contributions” to the lunar space station.

From Washington Times • Dec. 20, 2023

Several days into the mission, an oxygen tank on the spacecraft’s service module exploded, knocking out most of the power and oxygen to the command module.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 3, 2023

The command service module was the astronauts’ bus—their only bus—back to Earth: the lander would ferry the astronauts to the waiting service module and then be discarded.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly