space station

American  

noun

space stations plural

1. an orbiting manned structure that can be used for a variety of purposes, as to assemble or service satellites, refuel spacecraft, etc.

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space station British  

noun

1. Also called: space platform.   space laboratory.  any large manned artificial satellite designed to orbit the earth during a long period of time thus providing a base for scientific and medical research in space and a construction site, launch pad, and docking arrangements for spacecraft

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space station Cultural  

1. A structure being assembled in space by an international partnership led by NASA. The space station will be a permanent habitat at which scientific and technological work can be carried out. Building a space station is considered the next step in the development and exploration of space, although there is controversy concerning its cost and the value of the research that will be carried out there.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• space-station
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• space stations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of space station

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

A newly upgraded version of this module arrived at the space station on April 11 aboard a Commercial Resupply Services mission, expanding the range of experiments scientists can perform.

From Science Daily • Jun. 23, 2026

Discovery is known for flying more miles in space than any other shuttle orbiter, carrying the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit and making an early rendezvous with Russia’s Mir space station.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

A few hours later, it docked on the Tiangong space station.

From BBC • May 25, 2026

There’s a sci-fi podcast called “Wolf 359,” about a crew of a space station circling a red dwarf star.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Like people trying to find pictures in the clouds, those lucky enough to see Mir did the same when looking at the space station.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson