The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope by NASA and the first-ever alteration of a spacecraft’s course by a collision with an asteroid by the American space agency, DART, were only two of the major space shuttle missions that took place in 2022.
With the launch of its completely reusable Starship rocket, which it believes could eventually transport humans to Mars, SpaceX is attempting to follow up a record-breaking year with another one.
In what should be yet another exciting year for spaceflight, several nations are also aiming to hit new goals. The missions listed below are only a few in 2023 that are noteworthy.
1. Starship orbital maiden flight
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, and Gwynne Shotwell, the president of NASA, have both forecast and postponed the date of Starship’s first orbital launch on numerous occasions.
Since SpaceX’s very complicated, totally reusable rocket will eventually be the most potent rocket in the world, it makes sense that the company won’t want to rush its initial space shuttle mission launch.
However, considering that Musk stated that Starship was only two static fire tests away from flight, we might not be too far away from its orbital launch.
Starship’s launch hasn’t been given a specific date yet, but because it was formerly projected to happen at the end of 2022, it might actually be happening sooner than we think.
2. SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission
The International Space Station (ISS) will receive a crew from SpaceX on its sixth operational crew mission in February. From LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the mission will lift off in the middle of February.
Along with Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and Sultan Al Neyadi of the United Arab Emirates, the crew will feature NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg. For 180 days, they will remain in orbit around Earth.
3. Boeing’s first crewed Starliner capsule flight
With its CST-100 Starliner spaceship, Boeing hopes to send a crew to the ISS for the first time. The crew capsule made its first trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in May of last year and docked there.
Two astronauts, pilot Suni Williams and commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore, will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in April aboard a Starliner atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
4. ESA’s Jupiter JUICE mission
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is a space shuttle mission that the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch in April. The mission will take off from Kourou in French Guiana on one of the final Ariane 5 rocket missions.
The expedition will orbit Jupiter and its icy moons Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede while investigating them. It will first need to spend seven years in deep space travelling and making gravity-assist manoeuvres near Venus and Earth.
5. Russia’s first ‘Luna’ moon mission since 1976
The sample return Luna 24 mission, the final Russian moon mission, blasted off in 1976. The nation is currently finalising preparations for the July 2018 launch of Luna 25, its upcoming moon mission.
If everything goes according to plan, the mission will leave Vostochny Cosmodrome on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat rocket and land at Boguslavsky crater, which is close to the south pole of the moon. After that, it will investigate the local exosphere and lunar regolith.
Due to the possibility that ice deposits in the area could supply water and oxygen for potential lunar habitats, Russia, the United States, and China have set their sights on the lunar south pole.
6. SpaceX’s record-breaking Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission
A number of records will be broken by the private Polaris Dawn mission once it lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A on a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon. Along with the highest-altitude spacewalk ever, it will feature history’s first commercial spacewalk.
Polaris Dawn’s commander will be Jared Isaacman, the millionaire who funded Inspiration 4, SpaceX’s first “all-civilian” space mission. The first crewed Starship launch may be a part of Isaacman’s Polaris Program, which he detailed last year.
7. Two new private rocket launches, the Vulcan Centaur and Ariane 6
The heavy-lift Vulcan Centaur rocket will likely be launched for the first time by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) in the first quarter of the year.
Blue Origin BE-4 engines will be used to power that rocket as it enters space. A pair of Project Kuiper satellites, which compete with Starlink from Amazon, will be placed in orbit during the initial launch.
Although probably later in the year, the Ariane 6 spacecraft from the European company Arianspace could potentially be launched into orbit.
Conclusion
Concluding this article with the information about space shuttle launch and spacecraft missions, which took place all over the globe. Each and every nation represents a different concept about the outer space, Ending up with a heck lot of exciting and intriguing stuffs to know for the readers.
Whether it’s the ESA barging through Planet Jupiter’s orbit or NASA’s expeditions towards Planet Mars. In due we’ll make sure to keep you notified about more amazing space discoveries .
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