Planet Names in French and Other Space Words
If you are looking to greatly expand your French space vocabulary, then this is definitely the page for you. The goal of this page is to make the most complete list of space words in French, and we are currently at over 150 space-related translations.
To help you find the information most interesting to you, you can use the quick links below to jump to a certain category of words, or if you just want to learn all the translations in order, you can also scroll down through the page to find the translations for all the planets in our solar system, plus a ton of general space vocabulary, star types, and even some space agencies.
French Planet Names and Other Space Vocabulary:
Words in bold added during the last update. You can also view this list of planets and space words from English to French.
Quick links:
General Space Words in French
French Names for Planets in Our Solar System
Star Types in French
Other Named Space Objects in French
French Names for Space Agencies
General Space Words in French
This first list takes the most general space words and translates them from French into English. More specific, named space objects like planets are in their own lists farther down the page.
Anneau planétaire ➔ Planetary ring
Année-lumière ➔ Light year
Astéroïde ➔ Asteroid
Astromobile ➔ Rover (for exploring planets or other surfaces in space)
Astronaute ➔ Astronaut
Astronome ➔ Astronomer
Astronomie ➔ Astronomy
Astronomie amateur ➔ Amateur astronomy
Atterrisseur ➔ Lander (for landing on a surface in space)
Aurore australe ➔ Southern lights (aurora australis)
Aurore boréale ➔ Northern lights (aurora borealis)
Comète ➔ Comet
Constellation ➔ Constellation
Cosmonaute ➔ Cosmonaut
Débris spatial ➔ Space debris
Éclipse ➔ Eclipse
Éclipse lunaire ➔ Lunar eclipse
Éclipse solaire ➔ Solar eclipse
Éjection de masse coronale ➔ Coronal mass ejection
Équation de Drake ➔ Drake Equation (formula for estimating potential number of extraterrestrial civilizations)
Éruption solaire ➔ Solar flare
Espace ➔ Space
Exoplanète ➔ Exoplanet (planet outside our solar system)
Exploration spatiale ➔ Space exploration
Fusée ➔ Rocket (ship)
Galaxie ➔ Galaxy
Galaxie elliptique ➔ Elliptical galaxy
Galaxie irrégulière ➔ Irregular galaxy
Galaxie spirale ➔ Spiral galaxy
Géantes de glaces ➔ Ice giants (planets, ex. Uranus and Neptune)
Géantes gazeuses ➔ Gas giants (planets, ex. Jupiter and Saturn)
Globular cluster ➔ Amas globulaire
Homme dans la Lune ➔ Man in the Moon
Impacteur ➔ Impactor (space probe for impacting a celestial body)
Les hommes viennent de Mars, les femmes viennent de Vénus ➔ Men are from Mars, women are from Venus (book)
Lune bleue ➔ Blue moon
Lunette astronomique ➔ Astronomical telescope
Matière noire ➔ Dark matter
Météore ➔ Meteor
Météorite ➔ Meteorite
Météoroïde ➔ Meteoroid
Navette spatiale ➔ Space shuttle
Nébuleuse ➔ Nebula
Nouvelle lune ➔ New moon
Nova ➔ Nova
Objet géocroiseur ➔ Near-Earth Object (NEO)
Objet volant non identifié ➔ Unidentified flying object (UFO)
Orbite ➔ Orbit
Orbiteur ➔ Orbiter (for studying celestial bodies while in orbit)
Paradoxe de Fermi ➔ Fermi Paradox (questions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life)
Planétarium ➔ Planetarium
Planète ➔ Planet
Planète géante ➔ Giant planet (ex. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)
Planète mineure ➔ Minor planet
Planète naine ➔ Dwarf planet
Planète tellurique ➔ Earth-like planet
Planètes externes ➔ Outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)
Planètes internes ➔ Inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars)
Planétoïde ➔ Planetoid
Pleine lune ➔ Full moon
Pluie de météores ➔ Meteor shower
Programme spatial ➔ Space program
Radioastronomie ➔ Radio astronomy
Radiotélescope ➔ Radio telescope
Rayons cosmiques ➔ Cosmic rays
Satellite artificiel ➔ Artificial satellite
Satellite naturel ➔ Natural satellite (moon)
Sonde spatiale ➔ Space probe
Sphère de Dyson ➔ Dyson Sphere (theoretical structure that might denote extraterrestrial life)
Station spatiale ➔ Space station
Supernova ➔ Supernova
Système solaire ➔ Solar system
Syzygie ➔ Syzygy (alignment of three or more celestial bodies)
Tache solaire ➔ Sunspot
Télescope ➔ Telescope
Télescope spatial ➔ Space telescope
Tourisme spatial ➔ Space tourism
Trou de ver ➔ Wormhole
Trou noir ➔ Black hole
Trou noir supermassif ➔ Supermassive black hole
Unité astronomique (ua) ➔ Astronomical unit (au)
Univers ➔ Universe
Vaisseau spatial (used more for imaginary spacecraft, like in science fiction) ➔ Spacecraft
Véhicule spatial (used more for real spacecraft) ➔ Spacecraft
Vie extraterrestre ➔ Extraterrestrial life
Vol spatial ➔ Space flight
Voyage interstellaire ➔ Interstellar travel
French Names for Planets in Our Solar System
Here are the French to English translations for the planets and dwarf planets of our solar system. There also the translations for the sun and moon. Please note that the planets are listed in order of distance from the sun.
Le Soleil ➔ The Sun
La Lune ➔ The Moon
Mercure ➔ Mercury
Vénus ➔ Venus
Terre ➔ Earth
Mars ➔ Mars
Cérès ➔ Ceres (dwarf planet in the asteroid belt)
Jupiter ➔ Jupiter
Saturne ➔ Saturn
Uranus ➔ Uranus
Neptune ➔ Neptune
Pluton ➔ Pluto (dwarf planet)
Hauméa ➔ Haumea (dwarf planet)
Makémaké ➔ Makemake (dwarf planet)
Éris ➔ Eris (dwarf planet)
Planète X ➔ Planet X (hypothetical planet, where 'X' represented the unknown, not the Roman numeral 10)
Star Types in French
There's lots of different kinds of stars. This lists the French translations for the various star types.
Étoile ➔ Star
Étoile à neutrons ➔ Neutron star
Étoile binaire ➔ Binary star
Étoile filante ➔ Shooting star
Géante bleue ➔ Blue giant (star)
Géante rouge ➔ Red giant (star)
Hypergéante jaune ➔ Yellow hypergiant (star)
Naine blanche ➔ White dwarf (star)
Naine jaune ➔ Yellow dwarf (star)
Naine rouge ➔ Red dwarf (star)
Supergéante blanche ➔ White supergiant (star)
Supergéante bleue ➔ Blue supergiant (star)
Supergéante jaune ➔ Yellow supergiant (star)
Supergéante rouge ➔ Red supergiant (star)
Other Named Space Objects in French
This list contains the various named space objects that aren't the planets. It's more of a list of man-made space objects, celestial bodies, constellation names, etc.
Anneaux de Saturne ➔ Rings of Saturn
Cassiopée ➔ Cassiopeia (constellation)
Ceinture d'astéroïdes ➔ Asteroid Belt
Ceinture de Kuiper ➔ Kuiper Belt
Centre galactique ➔ Galactic Center
Comète de Halley ➔ Halley's Comet
Croix du Sud ➔ Southern Cross (constellation)
Étoile de Barnard ➔ Barnard's Star
Étoile Polaire ➔ The North Star
Face cachée de la Lune ➔ Dark side of the Moon (far side)
Face visible de la Lune ➔ Near side of the Moon (visible side)
Galaxie d'Andromède ➔ Andromeda Galaxy
Gémeaux ➔ Gemini (constellation)
Géminides ➔ Geminids (meteor shower)
Grande Tache rouge ➔ Great Red Spot (on Jupiter)
La Grande Ourse (The Great Bear) ➔ Ursa Major (constellation)
La Petite Ourse (The Little Bear) ➔ Ursa Minor (constellation)
Léonides ➔ Leonids (meteor shower)
Nébuleuse de la Tête de Cheval ➔ Horsehead Nebula
Nébuleuse d'Orion ➔ Orion Nebula
Nuage de Oort ➔ Oort Cloud
Perséides ➔ Perseids (meteor shower)
Sagittaire ➔ Sagittarius (constellation)
Station spatiale internationale (SSI) ➔ International Space Station (ISS)
Télescope spatial Hubble ➔ Hubble Space Telescope
Télescope spatial James Webb (TSJW) ➔ James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Transit de Mercure ➔ Transit of Mercury (Mercury crossing over the disc of the Sun)
Transit de Vénus ➔ Transit of Venus (Venus crossing over the disc of the Sun)
Vierge ➔ Virgo (constellation)
Voie lactée ➔ Milky Way (galaxy)
French Names for Space Agencies
If you are interested in the various space agencies of the world, then this list will probably come in handy when talking about them in French.
Administration coréenne de l'aérospatiale ➔ Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA)
Administration nationale de l'aéronautique et de l'espace ➔ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Administration spatiale nationale chinoise ➔ China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Agence d'exploration aérospatiale japonaise ➔ Japan Aerospace EXploration Agency (JAXA)
Agence spatiale australienne ➔ Australian Space Agency (ASA)
Agence spatiale canadienne ➔ Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
Agence spatiale émiratie ➔ United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA)
Agence spatiale européenne ➔ European Space Agency (ESA)
Agence spatiale israélienne ➔ Israeli Space Agency (ISA)
Agence spatiale italienne ➔ Italian Space Agency
Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) ➔ French Space Agency / National Centre for Space Studies
Organisation indienne de recherche spatiale ➔ Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
This list of French planets and space terms was first created on September 25, 2025.
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