Artemis I, a massive weather satellite, and the first commercial voyage to the International Space Station are among the major milestones for 2022.
Following the excitement of the James Webb Telescope and the asteroid-smashing DART mission launching in 2021, as well as the world's most powerful rocket blasting out this November, the focus shifts slightly to Britain this 2023. The country's first orbital space launch from UK soil is set to take place as early as next month from Cornwall.
Aside from that, here are some of the other important launches this year based on MailOnline's list:
Virgin Orbit Launching From Spaceport Cornwall
Spaceport Cornwall is set to host the first-ever space launch from the United Kingdom in January after months of delays. Cosmic Girl, Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747, was expected to take off and soar to 35,000 feet to launch the rocket on December 14. However, technical and regulatory obstacles in preparing for the launch delayed the project until after Christmas.
Cosmic Girl will launch a 70-foot rocket named LauncherOne into low Earth orbit to install small CubeSats once Virgin Orbit and its passenger satellites have been licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority. Once in place, the satellites will provide high-tech imaging sensors to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), allowing it to monitor Earth and its seas.
Spaceport Cornwall is a new UK spaceport located near Newquay, which officially became operational in September 2022. It is near Cornwall Airport Newquay, a busy civilian airport with flights to and from the UK and Europe. The venue will be one of the few in the world where you can be on a passenger jet and gaze out your window to view a space launch taking place.
Starship's First-Ever Launch
Despite being advertised as the world's most powerful launch vehicle, SpaceX's much-anticipated Starship rocket has failed to reach space. SpaceX's Starship is plagued by delays that seem to shatter every chance of its launch.
Elon Musk said last September that the ultra-super-heavy rocket could finally launch into space in October but that plan has also been pushed back to 2023. The company plans to launch it this month but was delayed the environmental assessment of the Boca Chica launch site. Experts believe it will launch in the first quarter of this year.
Blue Origin Sets To Launch Its New Glenn Rocket
is Blue Origin's follow-up launch vehicle to the existing New Shepard, which has flown humans into space. It is designed to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. Named after the first American to orbit the Earth, New Glenn is a single heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of transporting people and payloads to Earth's orbit and beyond.
It is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 23ft (7 meters) with a reusable first stage designed to last 25 flights. The target launch date for the new rocket will be in the last quarter of 2023 after it experienced malfunctions that are now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Other Scheduled Space Launches This Year
NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 launch to the International Space Station (ISS) is set on February 15. It will be carrying two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Meanwhile, the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite will be NASA's first Earth Venture Instrument with the goal of measuring pollution in North America. It will keep an hourly check on air pollution from Mexico City to the Canadian oil sands and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Lastly, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa's trip to the Moon via a SpaceX rocket is scheduled this year. In late 2022, he revealed the eight artists who will join him on an ambitious civilian flyby around the Moon.
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