A spaceplane is a type of vehicle that combines properties of an airplane and a spacecraft. It is meant to take off and land like a conventional airplane, but it is also designed to travel beyond the Earth's atmosphere, into space and back. This relatively new type of vehicle is not yet well known, so there are a few synonyms that can be used interchangeably. Some possible alternatives include spaceplane shuttle, lifting-body spacecraft, aerospaceplane, or an orbital plane. Each of these terms can be used to describe a vehicle that is capable of traveling into space and returning to Earth as an airplane.