Spaceflight
Spaceflight is the movement of people, vehicles, instruments, or cargo through space. It includes brief suborbital flights, sustained orbital missions, journeys to the Moon, and travel between planets.
Technical meaning
The term covers the full operational sequence of a mission beyond ordinary atmospheric flight: launch and ascent, coast or orbital operations, maneuvers, and—when applicable—reentry, descent, and landing. Spaceflight does not require an object to complete an orbit; a suborbital vehicle can enter space and return without circling Earth.
Why it matters
Calling an activity spaceflight immediately raises questions about vehicle architecture, launch and reentry licensing, range safety, communications, human-rating, insurance, and mission operations. It describes an end-to-end system involving launch providers, spacecraft operators, regulators, ground infrastructure, and customers.