A vehicle engineered to operate outside the Earth's atmosphere. This broad category includes satellites, space stations, crewed capsules, and robotic probes. They are built to survive extreme temperature fluctuations, hard vacuum, and high radiation, utilizing specialized life support or thermal management systems depending on their mission.
Heard on the job
The spacecraft will detach from the upper stage and deploy its solar arrays.
Also heard as
- vehicle
Do not mix it up with
- Spaceship: Spacecraft is the technical term for any space vehicle, crewed or uncrewed, whereas spaceship implies a crewed vessel.
Related terms
Spaceship
A crewed vehicle designed to operate and sustain human life in outer space.
Space probe
An uncrewed robotic spacecraft sent to explore deep space.
Launch vehicle
A rocket or other system used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into space.
Capsule
A pressurized spacecraft module designed to carry a crew and return them to Earth safely.