spaceflight

noun

space·​flight ˈspās-ˌflīt How to pronounce spaceflight (audio)
: flight beyond the earth's atmosphere

Examples of spaceflight in a Sentence

a history of human spaceflight
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.
More than 50% of the nearly 330 spaceflights to low Earth orbit in 2025 were done on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. — Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026 Human spaceflight was a mere 6 months old, after the April 12 launch of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin earlier that year. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 27 Oct. 2026 There are a lot of discussions that have already been happening about how to update things like planetary protection frameworks for the upcoming new era of human interplanetary spaceflight. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026 Mars has hogged the spotlight for decades and remains the long-term lodestar for human spaceflight. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for spaceflight

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of spaceflight was in 1931

Rhymes for spaceflight

See All Rhymes for spaceflight

Browse Nearby Words

space-filling model
spaceflight
space force
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spaceflight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spaceflight. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

spaceflight

noun
space·​flight ˈspās-ˌflīt How to pronounce spaceflight (audio)
: flight beyond the earth's atmosphere

More from Merriam-Webster on spaceflight

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about spaceflight

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of Pyrrhic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All