A spacecraft's service module is a compartment containing a variety of support systems used for spacecraft operations, but not any habitable area. Service modules are jettisoned when they are no longer needed, for example just before atmospheric re-entry. Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta space probe on March 2, 2004. ...

The Russian phrase for service module for the Soyuz spacecraft is sometimes more directly translated "Instrument-Assembly Compartment." This comes from the design feature of having the guidance and other computer systems in a separate pressure chamber (the instruments) from the rocket engines, their propellant tanks, and the life support tanks (from the German Aggregat, which gets translated "assembly"). The Russians do not use the word "module" for their own spacecraft, though it is in the Russian language. Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft approaching International Space Station Soyuz 19 spacecraft as seen from Apollo CM Soyuz spacecraft of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) Early 7K-OK Soyuz at National Space Centre, Leicester, England Soyuz (Soyus, Союз, union) is a series of spacecraft designed by Sergey Korolev for the Soviet...

Service modules often contain:

• Fuel cells or Batteries to provide power to the spacecraft. (Batteries are also in the part of the spacecraft that re-enters, to provide power during re-entry.)
• Solar cell arrays both to provide electric power directly and to recharge the batteries.
• Liquid oxygen (LOX) for fuel cells and breathing.
• Liquid hydrogen (LH2) for fuel cells.
• Helium or Nitrogen to force liquids to their destinations.
• Guidance sensors
• Guidance computer systems
• Propulsion engine and fuel
• Reaction control system engines
• Temperature-control system

Spacecraft with service modules include: A fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i. ... Four double-A batteries In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. ... A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is a semiconductor device consisting of a large-area p-n junction diode, which in the presence of sunlight is capable of generating usable electrical energy. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 15. ... Lox can stand for any of several things: Lox (salmon) - a type of salmon produce LOx (oxidizer) - liquid oxygen used as oxidizer in aerospace The Lox - was a Yonkers, NY-based rap trio This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles associated with the same title. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... LH2 is an acronym used in the aerospace industry, which stands for liquid hydrogen. ... General Name, Symbol, Number helium, He, 2 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 4. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi Spacecraft propulsion is used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial satellites, or in short, to provide delta-v. ... A reaction control system (abbreviated RCS) is a component of a spacecraft. ...

• Soyuz spacecraft (Soviet/Russian)
• Gemini spacecraft (American)
• Apollo spacecraft (American)
• Shenzhou spacecraft (Chinese)