| Acronym | Meaning |
| ET | External Tank |
| OARE | Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment |
| ERS | Earth Resources Satellite |
| CCDS | Centers For The Commercial Development Of Space |
| TAL | Transatlantic Abort Landing |
| PLB | Payload Bay |
| TAU | Thousand Astronomical Unit |
| EUTELSAT | European Telecommunications Satellite Organization |
| SLAP | Space Link Access Protocol |
| OCTS | Ocean Color And Temperature Scanner |