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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Astronauts & Human Spaceflight

Space station

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

/ˈspeɪs ˌsteɪʃən/nounCore term

In astronomy & space, space station means: A large spacecraft that stays in orbit for years, where crews live and work for long periods and carry out experiments in microgravity.

In Turkish: uzay istasyonu

How it is used

The best-known example is the International Space Station (ISS), continuously crewed since 2000; China operates the Tiangong station. People live 'on' or 'aboard' a space station, and visiting vehicles dock with it.

Example sentences

  1. The International Space Station circles Earth more than fifteen times a day.

  2. The new crew will spend six months aboard the space station.

Common collocations

  • International Space Station
  • aboard the space station
  • dock with the space station
  • space station crew
  • astronautA person who is trained to travel and work in space on board a spacecraft or a space station.
  • dockTo join two spacecraft together in space, for example when a crew capsule connects to a space station. The noun is 'docking'.
  • microgravityThe condition of near weightlessness that people and objects experience in orbit, where everything falls around Earth together and seems to float.
  • low Earth orbitAn orbit relatively close to Earth, usually below about 2,000 km. The space station and most Earth observation satellites fly in low Earth orbit.
  • life supportThe systems in a spacecraft or spacesuit that keep people alive by supplying oxygen, removing carbon dioxide and controlling temperature, pressure and water.

More terms: Astronauts & Human Spaceflight

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