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

Ship is scheduled to perform a landing burn and soft splashdown of its own a little more than an hour after liftoff, and will meet a watery demise in the Indian Ocean. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 16 July 2026

For Flight 13, after separating from Starship high above the Earth, the Super Heavy V3 would fly back to perform a pinpoint splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico—a landing that the booster failed to stick during Flight 12. — Lee Billings & Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 16 July 2026

The other goal left incomplete on Starship’s last flight involved the splashdown of the rocket’s Super Heavy booster, or first stage, which lost control moments after separating from the ship, or upper stage, a few minutes after liftoff. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 14 July 2026

There will be exhibits, a presentation about the Apollo 11 Command Module and space expert Bill Miklos with a presentation about the astronauts’ splashdown and recovery. — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 13 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