life-support system

noun

: an artificial or natural system that provides all or some of the items (such as oxygen, food, water, control of temperature and pressure, disposition of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health

Examples of life-support system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The point of Artemis II is prove Orion can keep astronauts safe, with the spacecraft flying with life-support systems and command and piloting hardware for the first time. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 Mar. 2026

The astronauts will spend the first day of the mission orbiting Earth and testing Orion's life-support systems, which help regulate temperature, air quality and other factors that keep the crew safe. —Tom Costello, NBC news, 30 Mar. 2026

Astronauts will test docking, life-support systems and communications with commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, but in low Earth orbit, the region roughly 100 to 1,200 miles (160 to 2,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface, where rescue remains possible. —Michelle L.d. Hanlon, The Conversation, 30 Mar. 2026

This flight path allows Orion spacecraft to loop behind the moon and use gravity to naturally guide the spacecraft back to Earth, while giving the astronauts an opportunity to test life-support systems, navigation, communications and deep-space operations. —Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for life-support system

• cryptosystem
• ecosystem
• intersystem
• multisystem
• photosystem
• subsystem

Kids Definition

life-support system

noun

: a system that provides all or some of the items (as oxygen, food, water, proper temperature and air pressure, elimination of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health

Medical Definition

life-support system

noun

: a system that provides all or some of the items (as oxygen, food, water, and disposition of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health: as

a

: one used to maintain the health of a person or animal in outer space, underwater, or in a mine

b

: one used to maintain the life of an injured or ill person unable to maintain certain physiological processes without artificial support