space shuttle

noun

: a reusable spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space

Examples of space shuttle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been aloft for 35 years and is still at work—thanks in part to the five servicing missions astronauts made to the telescope before the space shuttles were retired in 2011. Jeffrey Kluger/greenbelt, TIME, 8 Feb. 2025 Ensuring aviation safety in context of a potential space junk strike was not taken into consideration until the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, in which the spacecraft broke apart while re-entering the atmosphere. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 6 Feb. 2025 The proceedings commemorated the lives lost in NASA's three space tragedies — the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967, the space shuttle Challenger explosion in January 1986 and the shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003. Mike Wall, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2025 The event remembers the crews of Apollo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Andrew Torgan, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for space shuttle

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of space shuttle was in 1950

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Cite this Entry

“Space shuttle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/space%20shuttle. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

space shuttle

noun
: a spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space that can be used repeatedly

More from Merriam-Webster on space shuttle

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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