spacecraft
Americannoun
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spacecraft
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spacecraft
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
China has also announced its Tianwen-3 spacecraft is scheduled for launch around 2028 and will return Mars samples to Earth around 2031 -- potentially earlier than MMX's sample return.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The spacecraft, revealed to media last Thursday, will stay in Mars' orbit for around three years and will attempt to land on Phobos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
As that plutonium supply steadily diminishes, each spacecraft loses about 4 watts of available power every year.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Europe faces glaring gaps across both launch and spacecraft manufacturing.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
According to this concept you first needed to blast out of the atmosphere and stabilize a mother spacecraft inside of Earth’s orbit.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
