2023 in space: What giant leaps in exploration will mankind make this year?

Aditi Kallanagoudar-Girish Science and Tech Editor

From NASA launching their groundbreaking moon mission, Artemis I to the DART mission to the James Webb Telescope coming to observe the invisible universe, 2022 was a big year in space exploration.

By the looks of it, 2023 seems to be even more promising.

It starts with the launch of two lunar landers, built by Houston’s Intuitive Machines and Pittsburgh’s

Astrobotic Technology, which are expected to land on the Moon’s surface in early 2023.

The lunar landers are expected to carry a range of rovers and plan to conduct various experiments on the lunar surface, including some to help lay the foundations for the return of astronauts to the moon.

In April, the European Space Agency will launch its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which is scheduled to arrive at the Jupiter system by 2031. It will explore the icy moons of Jupiter - Europa, Callisto and Ganymede for signs of habitability under their crusts of ice.

Meanwhile, NASA awaits the homecoming of their Osiris-Rex spacecraft, their first asteroid sam - ple return mission. The spacecraft which collected material from the asteroid Bennu back in October 2020 is scheduled to come back to Earth this September. They hope that this carbon-rich material from the asteroid will help scientists better understand how the planets formed billions of years ago, as well as provide some insight to the origination of life on Earth.

Soon after this, NASA plans to launch its Psyche mission to a unique metal rich asteroid which is believed to be the exposed iron core of a young planet, in the Kuiper Belt between Mars and Jupiter. They also plan to send in astronauts for Boeing Starliner’s next trip to the International Space Station sometime this year.

In the private sector, SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, is set to make its first orbital flight this year with the billionaire behind the project, Elon Musk saying that first prototypes should be ready as early as June. The lift-off thrust of the Super Heavy Booster will measure about 120 m and 7.7 million kg.

NASA plans to conduct the first mission named Polaris Dawn with a Starship sometime this year. The mission, which will be a three-day test flight orbiting around Earth, is testing the waters for the final aim to have men on the moon by 2025, in the first lunar touchdown since the last Apollo missions in the 1970s.