Meaning & use
spacecraft
Last updated
UK/ˈspeɪskrɑːft/
US/ˈspeɪskræft/
Meaning
nouncountable
A vehicle designed to travel or operate beyond Earth's atmosphere.
Grammar: The plural is also 'spacecraft'; it does not take -s.
Patterns
- a spacecraft
- launch a spacecraft
- the spacecraft orbits something
The spacecraft landed safely on the moon.
Several spacecraft are currently exploring Mars.
They launched a spacecraft to study the sun.
Word forms
| plural | spacecraft |
|---|
Common combinations
- launch a spacecraft
- The agency plans to launch a spacecraft next year.
- manned spacecraft
- Manned spacecraft require life-support systems.
- unmanned spacecraft
- An unmanned spacecraft collected data from the asteroid.
- spacecraft design
- Spacecraft design must account for extreme temperatures.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spaceship
- More common in science fiction and everyday speech; 'spacecraft' is the technical term used in aerospace contexts.
- vessel
- A general term for a craft, but not specific to space; often used for ships or large boats.
Word family
- spacecraft noun
- The same word serves as both singular and plural.
Commonly confused: spacecraft or spaceship?
spacecraft vs spaceship
Both mean a vehicle for space, but 'spaceship' is less formal and often imaginary; 'spacecraft' is used for real vehicles.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Spacecraft' is both singular and plural, so 'spacecraft was' is correct for one vehicle. 'Spacecrafts' is not a standard plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spacecraft”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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