These are the space missions 2023

In the coming year 2023, numerous countries want to realize ambitious space plans. These range from missions to the moon, the planets Mars, Venus and Jupiter as well as to asteroids. The list of countries involved in space is getting longer and longer and the number of commercial providers is increasing. Here we provide an overview of the space year 2023 by country.

The United States is still the No. 1 space nation. The space agency Nasa is currently concentrating primarily on the “Artemis” moon program, in which astronauts are to land on the moon again after more than half a century, including for the first time one woman and one not white person. After a first unmanned launch in November 2022, preparations for a manned flight around the moon in 2024, if possible, and a landing on the moon in 2025 are underway next year psyche and to help better understand the origin of planetary cores.

Private space companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic also have big plans: Among other things, SpaceX wants to start the first of three planned flights with US billionaire Jared Isaacman – the mission is called “Polaris Dawn”. Isaacman and three colleagues are to fly higher than ever before in the "Dragon" capsule and also - as the first amateur astronauts ever - to get out into space. Blue Origin is planning further manned short flights and Virgin Galactic also wants to start flights again after a long break.

At the center of China's space program is the almost completed space station "Tiangong" (Heaven's Palace). This will also include a space telescope called "Xuntian", which is said to be similar to the US "Hubble" telescope. It will be stationed near the space station and will dock regularly with the "Celestial Palace" to refuel. Maintenance is then also much easier than with "Hubble". The launch of the Chinese Space Telescope is scheduled for late 2023 or early 2024.

China is pursuing other ambitious goals in space: A reusable spacecraft may be in use by 2025. Rock samples from the polar regions of the moon are also to be brought to earth over the next five years. Plans for a research station on the moon are also being worked out with Russia. Landing on a near-Earth asteroid is also planned. China also wants to bring samples from Mars to Earth, which could happen in 2028. A mission to explore Jupiter could follow in 2029. With "Beidou", China has also set up its own navigation satellite system.

In view of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Moscow is very isolated internationally, and space travel has become one of the last remaining spheres of Russian-Western cooperation - at least as far as cooperation between Russia and the USA is concerned. Despite the fighting, in autumn 2022, for the first time in a long time, so-called cruise flights took place, in which Nasa astronauts and Roskosmos cosmonauts set off together for the "International Space Station". Such a combination trip is also planned for 2023: In addition to the Russian Andrei Fedjajew and the Americans Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Sultan al-Nejadi from the United Arab Emirates should also be on board in February. Russia also wants to finally bring the “Luna 25” spacecraft to the moon in 2023, which should actually have been on the way for a long time. According to Roskosmos, after repeated technical problems, it should now be between June and October 2023.

The European space agency Esa is planning several missions for the coming year. The "Juice" satellite is expected to make its way to the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, in April, according to a spokeswoman for the satellite control center in Darmstadt. The probe will characterize Jupiter's oceanic icy moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto as possible habitats and also explore the gas giant itself. The launch of the earth observation satellite "Sentinel-1C" is planned for May or June, which is to provide day and night images of the earth's surface using radar technology.

The Euclid probe is designed to create a 3D map of the Universe by observing billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years away. "Euclid" is also intended to provide clues as to how the universe expanded and how its structure formed. The launch is scheduled to take place between July and September. According to Esa, the “Exomars” rover mission in cooperation with Roskosmos, which was canceled this year due to the war in Ukraine, will probably not start in 2023 either. The carrier rocket "Ariane 6" is to complete its maiden flight with a delay of years.

The Asian high-tech nation Japan is also pursuing plans to explore the moon and Mars. As part of the US "Artemis" program, Japan is aiming to land its own astronaut on the moon for the first time. The selection process will probably be completed next spring, says a representative of the Japanese space agency Jaxa, which is also working on a landing technology for exploring the moon. Planned for 2023, the “Slim” (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) mission aims to enable precise navigation to a specific landing point. Other landers and a manned rover planned together with the Toyota automobile group are also planned for the coming years. A fuel factory at the south pole of the moon is also being planned.

Japan is also pursuing its own Mars exploration mission. The "Martian Moons Exploration" (MMX) project plans to launch a probe in the direction of the Mars moons Phobos and Deimos in 2024. Japan's space agency Jaxa wants to use the mission to explore both moons and get soil samples from Phobos - in the hope of finding clues to the origin of Mars and traces of possible life. The samples are scheduled to be brought to Earth in a capsule in 2029.

Two Indian missions, which have been postponed several times due to the corona pandemic, among other things, are now scheduled to start next year, as reported by local media. A mission to the sun (“Aditya-L1”) and a probe to the moon (“Chandrayaan-3”) are planned. A first Indian moon landing attempt in 2019 ended in a crash landing. The government also wants to increasingly rely on the private sector, private companies are allowed to use the infrastructure of the space agency. Recently, it launched a rocket developed by a local private company into space for the first time. The country plans to start further projects from the end of 2024. So there should be missions to Venus (“Shukrayaan-1”) and to Mars (“Mangalyaan-2”). In addition, astronauts are to be sent into space (“Gaganyaan”).

In the Arab world, it is above all the Emirati government in Abu Dhabi that is making great strides in space travel. The United Arab Emirates want to invest the equivalent of more than 800 million euros in private space travel over a period of ten years. Companies and start-ups are to start working in special economic zones in Dubai, among other places. The Emirates are relying on a mix of state and private projects, based entirely on the model of the US space agency Nasa - which, however, works with significantly larger sums.

The goals are set high. In parallel with an ongoing Mars mission, in which a probe entered orbit the Red Planet in early 2021, the Emirates also want to explore Venus and the asteroid belt. After the launch of the mission in 2028, the country wants to land a probe on an asteroid - after a 3.6 billion kilometer journey over five years. The country is working with a company from Japan on its first moon mission.

Saudi Arabia, the big neighbor United Arab Emirates, emulates them in terms of space travel. The kingdom has now launched its own program for astronauts and plans to send a woman into space for the first time in 2023.