航天
háng tiān · HSK 7
space flight
🚀 航天 = 航 navigate + 天 sky = navigating the sky, i.e. space flight
航 means to navigate or voyage (as a ship or plane does); 天 means sky or heaven. Together they name travel through the sky beyond it: space flight. The same 航 shows up in 航空 air travel and 导航 navigation.
天 — 一 (one/sky) above 大 (big person)
Originally a pictograph of a person (大) with an emphasized head, representing what is above — the sky or heavens. The top stroke evolved into 一, symbolizing the vast expanse overhead. From 'sky' it extended to mean 'day,' 'heaven,' and 'nature.'