How is this a spacecraft? It can't ever leave orbit of a planet with an atmosphere.
Neither could the space shuttle but surely that's a spacecraft. Why would it have to leave a planet to count?
Most spacecraft we know of never left the Earth orbit anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft#Crewed_and_uncrewed...
It spends it's entire mission above the Kármán line (100km), so it is legitimately in space, and is therefore a spacecraft, like all other satellites.
Neither could the space shuttle but surely that's a spacecraft. Why would it have to leave a planet to count?
Most spacecraft we know of never left the Earth orbit anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft#Crewed_and_uncrewed...
It spends it's entire mission above the Kármán line (100km), so it is legitimately in space, and is therefore a spacecraft, like all other satellites.