2023 Aviation Week Photo Contest Editors’ Picks: Space

A Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral SFS at sunrise carrying GPS III-6 for the U.S. Space Force.

A Falcon 9 undergoes a static test fire of its engines at Kennedy Space Center before NASA’s Crew-6 launch.

The night before the first test launch of the SpaceX Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster, the stars revealed the final destination for the program. Mars glows orange-red in the sky, almost calling to the rocket to come visit. Someday soon, Mars, someday soon.

The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9, the eighth of this particular first stage, from Vandenberg SFB, California, was captured from the Phoenix metropolitan area, several hundred miles to the east, as it arced across the evening sky. With the launch occurring shortly after local sunset, the rocket’s plume was illuminated from behind by the Sun.

Liftoff! This photo brings us up close with the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket’s 5 million lb. of thrust as it carries the Viasat-3 Americas payload to orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The 27 Merlin engines generate as much thrust as 18 Boeing 747 aircraft.

This photo captures the enthusiasm for space exploration in one frame. Onlookers watch the new SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy rocket lift off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, 5.5 mi. away from their vantage point at Isla Blanca Park. Just a few seconds earlier, the child in the frame was sitting next to his dad and brother. As the rocket emerged from the massive plume of smoke and debris, he jumped up with the enthusiasm of a whole generation being ignited with a new space era.

A Falcon 9 launches from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A after sunset carrying OneWeb-15 into orbit.