Spacecraft

Basic Information

A spacecraft (or spaceship) is a vehicle or machine capable of spaceflight.
A starship is a spacecraft capable of traveling to distant stars.

Astronautics is the science of designing, and building spacecraft, starships, space stations, satellites, and statites.

An Astronaut (or Cosmonaut) is someone who commands, pilots or crews a spacecraft professionally. See also Commercial Astronaut and Space Tourist.

Categories of Spaceflight:

• Suborbital Spaceflight
• Orbital Spaceflight
• Human Spaceflight
• Robotic Space Mission
• Interstellar Travel

Systems aboard a Spacecraft:

• Life Support System
• Attitude Control System
• Guidance System
• Command and Data Handling System
• Power System
• Thermal Control System
• Propulsion System / Spacecraft Propulsion / Stardrive
• Structural Subsystem
• Payload
• Ground Segment
• Launch Vehicle

Specific Spacecraft:

Arcana Wiki has pages on the following spacecraft:

• Boeing X-37
• SpaceShipOne and the White Knight that launches/carries it.

See Also:

• Alien
• Embryo Space Colonization
• FTL
• International Space Station
• Interstellar Terrain
• Speculative Fiction Tropes
• Stellar Megastructure
• Technology
• UFO
• Von Neumann Probe

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia on Spacecraft

2. Wikipedia on Spacecraft Propulsion

Game and Story Use

• Spacecraft are a staple of science fiction stories, whether they be fantastic space opera, or a gritty tale set Twenty Minutes Into The Future.
• If you're considering running a campaign that features spacecraft and outer space prominently, it may prove helpful to read up on Space Does Not Work That Way.