splashdown

noun

splash·​down ˈsplash-ˌdau̇n 

plural splashdowns

: the landing of a crewed spacecraft in the ocean

splash down intransitive verb

Examples of splashdown in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The festival also featured food trucks, vendors and a watch party to view the splashdown. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026

During the most recent flight, the vehicle deployed 20 Starlink satellites before returning to Earth, although a fire did briefly break out following splashdown. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2026

Musk was talking specifically about Ship's performance on that suborbital jaunt, which ended with the upper stage's soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2026

SpaceX was more than lucky last Friday, sending its 13th full-scale Starship test flight halfway around the world from South Texas to an on-target, intact splashdown in a remote section of the Indian Ocean. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 31 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for splashdown

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

Kids Definition

splashdown

noun

splash·​down ˈsplash-ˌdau̇n 

: the landing of a spacecraft in the ocean