Every year, space agencies and private companies bring humanity closer to “interplanetary species” status, and 2023 is no exception, with a number of major milestones along the way (groundbreaking rocket launches, unprecedented lunar missions, and discoveries). notable scientists) who will help along the way. the way.
On the eve of next 2024, Business Insider has selected the main events of the outgoing year in the space sector:
- However, SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever built (more than 120 m high and with a payload capacity of more than 150 tons): Starship to transport people and cargo to Mars.
He even launched it twice: the first time was a complete failure (it caught fire while still in the atmosphere), the second time the megarocket burst into space, but finally exploded there. Be that as it may, the year remained a record year for the corporation, which increased the number of launches by almost a third compared to 2022.
- Private space companies have shown that they are preparing for competition.
It was also an important year for other spaceflight companies. Relativity Space demonstrated the capabilities of its 3D printers by launching a rocket made up of 85% printed materials.
Terran 1 successfully separated from the first stage, but failed to enter orbit. The new modification, Terran R, will try to improve the results of its predecessor.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has received a vote of confidence from NASA. In May, it became the second private company, after SpaceX, to win the agency’s coveted $3.4 billion contract to develop technology to take astronauts to the Moon.
The company also received the NASA Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) contract. This means Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy orbital launch vehicle will be able to deliver an exploration payload to Mars on its first flight when it takes place.
- China’s lunar missions were carried out using cutting-edge fuel.
China once again demonstrated its precision spaceflight engineering capabilities, saying it reached orbit in July using a rocket powered by metalox, a liquid fuel composed of methane and oxygen.
At the same time, the country was ahead of several American companies trying to put rockets powered by this fuel into orbit (including SpaceX and Blue Origin).
- The advance of India has conquered the planet.
In August, India surprised the world when it became the first country to land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole and only the fourth country to land on the Moon.
The dog-sized Chandrayaan-3 rover, launched by the spacecraft a few days after landing, collected important information about the lunar soil.
For the rest, experts point to stagnation in the Russian and European space markets. The UK attempted the first launch from the new Cornwall spaceport, but Virgin Orbit was unable to reach orbit.
Analysts also remember the crisis of the European Space Agency (ESA), whose presence in space is decreasing, although at the beginning of the year the first EU spaceport was opened in Sweden, on the continent (already above the Polar Circle Arctic).
In the private space flight sector, it is worth highlighting the first flight of the Miura-1 single-stage rocket, developed by the Spanish company PLDSpace (which, however, did not enter orbit either).
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
