space shuttle

American  

noun

(often initial capital letters)

space shuttles plural

1. any of several U.S. space vehicles consisting of a reusable manned orbiter that touches down on a landing strip after an orbital mission, two reusable solid rocket boosters that drop off after initial ascent, and an expendable external tank containing liquid propellants.

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space shuttle British  

noun

1. any of a series of reusable US space vehicles ( Columbia (exploded 2003), Challenger (exploded 1986), Discovery , Atlantis , Endeavour ) that can be launched into earth orbit transporting astronauts and equipment for a period of observation, research, etc, before re-entry and an unpowered landing on a runway; the first operational flight occurred in 1981 and it was taken out of service in 2011

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space shuttle Cultural  

1. A vehicle built by NASA that is capable of taking off from Earth, carrying a crew and a cargo into space, and returning to Earth to be used again. It is used primarily to transport a crew to an orbiting space station and to deploy and retrieve satellites.

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The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986. All seven crew members died in the accident.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• space shuttles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of space shuttle

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70

Example Sentences

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has already cut the cost of reaching space by 95% relative to the space shuttle.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

“That cannot be right,” Livingston Holder, a former manned spaceflight engineer with the Air Force and space shuttle payload specialist, recalled thinking when he first heard that fact.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Nasa's "Type A" grade puts the Starliner incident at the same level assigned to the fatal 2023 Columbia and 1986 Challenger space shuttle disasters.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

With SpaceX’s forthcoming Starship, launch costs per kilogram are expected to fall to 1% of the costs under the space shuttle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

“I want to try out the space shuttle simulator.”

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein