Space Highlights Of 2023

The first flight of Relativity Space’s Terran 1 largely 3D-printed small-launch vehicle failed to reach orbit on March 22, after which the U.S. startup pivoted to development of the larger Terran R heavy-lift launch vehicle. The first liquid-oxygen/methane rocket engine arrived at NASA Stennis Space Center for testing on Dec. 1.

The first integrated test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle on April 20 failed to reach orbit due to engine issues. On the second test flight on Nov. 18, the Starship second stage successfully separated from the Super Heavy but failed to reach orbit while the returning booster broke up.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Juice spacecraft was launched from French Guiana on April 14 on a journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon in 2034. The launch of ESA’s Euclid wide-angle space telescope on a mission to determine the red shift in detected galaxies followed on July 1.

Satellite air-launch company Virgin Orbit ceased operations in May after filing for bankruptcy after failing to secure long-term funding and following the failure of its first launch attempt from the UK in January. The startup’s ex-Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 was acquired by hypersonic test company Stratolaunch.

Virgin Galactic conducted its first commercial suborbital spaceflight on June 29, the Galactic 01 mission carrying 13 research payloads and three crewmembers from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy. The company will halve the number of flights in 2024 to focus resources on its next-generation vehicle.

Europe’s Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle conducted its 177th and final flight from French Guiana on July 5, carrying the European Space Agency’s Juice space probe on the heavy-lift launch vehicle’s 112th successful flight. The replacement Ariane 6 is planned for launch in June-July 2024.

The Moon is a harsh mistress, and the successful touchdown of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover mission at the lunar south pole on the Aug. 23 followed crashes of lunar landers from Japanese commercial startup Ispace on  April 25 and Russia’s Luna 25 mission on Aug. 19.

Firefly Aerospace launched the U.S. Space Force’s Victus Nox mission on Sept. 14, 27 hr. after receipt of launch orders, setting a record for responsive space launch. Following deployment into low Earth orbit, payload supplier Millennium Space initialized the spacecraft less than 48 hr. later.

The first two prototypes for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite internet constellation, KuiperSat-1 and -2, were orbited by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V on Oct. 6. Full-scale deployment of a planned 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit is expected to begin in the first half of 2024.

NASA’s Psyche mission to study the metallic asteroid 16 Pysche was launched on Oct. 13 on the first interplanetary mission and first flight for NASA by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. The Maxar Technologies-built probe is planned to orbit the 140-mi.-dia. asteroid from August 2029 through 2031.