soft-land

[ sawf-land, soft- ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to land slowly and without jarring impact:

   to soft-land the module on the planet's surface.

verb (used without object)

1. to land slowly and without jarring impact:

   The craft will soft-land on the moon.

Other Words From

• soft-lander noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of soft-land¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

It makes the Asian nation only the fifth country to soft-land on Earth's natural satellite, after the US, the Soviet Union, China and India.

From BBC

India's second lunar mission, which also attempted to soft-land there in 2019, was unsuccessful - its lander and rover were destroyed, though its orbiter survived.

From BBC

"And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon," he said on X, formerly Twitter.

From Reuters

India's second lunar mission, which also attempted to soft-land there in 2019, was unsuccessful - its lander and rover were destroyed, though its orbiter survived.

From BBC

In 2019, Chang’e-4, another lander-rover, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side of the Moon.

From Science Magazine