Notably, 2023 is predicted to be the launchpad for humanity’s conquest of space, according to the lesnumeriques.com website.
Explosive Investment in Space
The year 2022 was a remarkable year for the aerospace industry. Previously, the “battle of the stars” was mainly among the United States, Russia, and China. Nowadays, Japan, South Korea, India, and the United Arab Emirates have also joined the space conquest.
These countries have allocated significant investments to the aerospace industry. For instance, the budget of the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has increased to $25.4 billion for 2023. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) has also raised its budget to $18 billion over the next three years.
In the private sector, companies like SpaceX by billionaire Elon Musk, Blue Origin by billionaire Jeff Bezos, and Virgin Galactic by billionaire Richard Branson have made substantial investments in space exploration. According to a study by the Tauri Group, private global investment in space increased from $3.35 billion during 2010-2014 to $16.84 billion during 2015-2019.
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The Space Launch System (SLS) carries NASA’s Orion spacecraft into orbit from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on November 16, 2022. Photo: NASA.
In 2022, the world also witnessed some ambitious missions in human history. Among them, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to explore the Moon received significant attention. The Artemis program is NASA’s effort to return humans to the Moon, 50 years after the Apollo program.
On November 16, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft was launched into orbit by the Space Launch System (SLS) – the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA – from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. This crucial flight aimed to evaluate the systems on board Orion and ensure its safety for transporting humans on the journey to the Moon. Orion spacecraft safely returned to Earth after a 25-day mission around the Moon, marking the end of the Artemis 1 mission.
With this success, the Artemis 2 mission – sending astronauts around the Moon – is expected to be carried out in 2024 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Artemis 3 mission – landing astronauts (including the first woman) on the Moon’s South Pole – will be conducted a year later.
The remarkable success of South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft in late 2022 was also noteworthy. Launched in August 2022 by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Danuri successfully completed its first orbital mission around the Moon on December 17. In addition, the United Arab Emirates also launched its first lunar probe named Rashid on December 11, 2022, with the assistance of SpaceX and Japan’s iSpace company.
Furthermore, in 2022, private space tourism activities have shown promising diversification, with companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic considering space tourism as a lucrative potential revenue stream.
Moon Tourism Boom
Next year, moon tourism is predicted to explode. For starters, SpaceX’s DearMoon mission will use the Super Heavy and Starship spacecraft to take Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and 8 other civilian passengers on a trip around the Moon.
In 2023, Russia will also make a comeback to the Moon with the Luna 25 mission. Russia aims to relaunch the Luna 25 mission after multiple delays. This mission will send a probe to the Moon’s South Pole to collect material samples.
Missions to other destinations in the Solar System also garner considerable interest in 2023. In April 2023, ESA will conduct a new mission named JUICE to explore the icy moons of Jupiter.
“This is the first mission essentially dedicated to the icy moons. We may know that these icy moons have very deep oceans, and they may have the conditions for life to develop,” said Mark McCaughrean, Senior Science and Exploration Advisor at ESA. Additionally, ESA is planning another significant mission at the end of 2023, which involves launching the Euclid space telescope to search for dark matter.
In October 2023, NASA will launch a vital scientific mission to explore 16 Psyche, a massive asteroid located in the asteroid belt. 16 Psyche makes up 1% of the entire belt’s mass and is believed to be the core of an ancient planet. This metallic asteroid contains a significant amount of iron, nickel, and gold.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is also expected to return to Earth in September 2023 with samples from the asteroid Bennu. Amazon aims to launch its first satellites for the Kuiper Project in early 2023, marking the beginning of a network of 3,000 orbiting satellites that they hope will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service.