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Launch of Spacecraft 2023

2023

JANUARY

Jan. 2: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a rideshare mission called Transporter 6. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch is scheduled for 9:55 a.m. EST (1455 GMT) 

Jan. 18: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the U.S. Space Force’s sixth-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Also scheduled to launch in January (from Spaceflight Now(opens in new tab)): 

  •  A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch a new-generation Boeing-built broadband satellite ViaSat 3 Americas.  
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first two WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites for Maxar Technologies. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 40 satellites into orbit for OneWeb from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
  • A SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch the USSF 67 mission for the U.S. Space Force from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.    
  • Rocket Lab will launch the first Electron booster from U.S. soil. The launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will deliver six HawkEye 360 satellites that monitor global radio frequencies into space.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 16: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the 83rd Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station.

Feb. 19: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program’s ninth flight with astronauts. The Crew 6 mission will include NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will launch on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. 

Also scheduled to launch in February (from Spaceflight Now(opens in new tab)):

  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Inmarsat 6 F2 communications satellite for London-based Inmarsat from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  
  • An Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA259, will launch the Syracuse 4B and Heinrich Hertz communications satellites from Kourou, French Guiana. 

MARCH

Also scheduled to launch in March (from Spaceflight Now(opens in new tab)):

  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Polaris Dawn mission commanded by Jared Isaacman. It will be his second trip to space. Isaacman will be joined by pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. 
  • NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission will launch to the moon‘s south pole on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will use the Nova-C lunar landing platform developed by Intuitive Machines.  
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch around 10 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. 
  • A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket will launch a Cygnus cargo freighter on a flight to the International Space Station. 
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the IM-1 mission with the Nova-C lander built and owned by Intuitive Machines from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 
  • A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the crewed Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The crew is led by commander Oleg Kononenko, who will be joined by Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. 
  • A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket will launch a classified spy satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.  

APRIL

Apr. 5: Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket to launch the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, known as JUICE. The mission will observe Jupiter along with its three large moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The spacecraft will enter orbit of the Jovian system in July 2031. 

Apr. 20: The new moon will arrive at 12:12 a.m. EDT (0512 GMT).

Apr. 20: A rare hybrid solar eclipse will occur today. The solar eclipse will be visible to observers across southeast Asia and Australia. 

Also scheduled to launch in April (from Spaceflight Now(opens in new tab)):

  • A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed flight. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Mike Fincke, along with an unidentified third crew member, will fly on the mission. The Crew Test Flight to the International Space Station will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. 

MAY

May 5: A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur today! Some parts of the lunar eclipse should be visible in South/East Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, Pacific, Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and Antarctica.

Also scheduled to launch in May (from Spaceflight Now(opens in new tab)): 

  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft on Axiom Mission 2 to the International Space Station. The commercial mission will include former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in command, and John Shoffner (a racecar driver and airshow pilot), who paid for his seat as the pilot. They will be joined by two Saudi astronauts.