A manned artificial satellite in a fixed orbit designed for scientific research(noun)
WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.
Use "space laboratory" in a sentence
"It was built in space over a span of ten years and designed as a space laboratory so that scientists could carry out experiments in a nearly gravity-free environment."
"Such large crews would be necessary to perform the planned satellite deployments and retrievals, spacewalks, and space laboratory research of the shuttle era."