CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new year and a new slate of launches are on deck. Mark your calendar for several big space launches in 2023.
There are three big launches still to come this year, and the fourth mission is the Osiris Rex as it comes back to Earth with samples from an asteroid.
Here's a snapshot of the top three to look forward to in 2023:
Polaris Dawn - The first of the top three launches this year is a private space flight. Polaris Dawn is a SpaceX Dragon Capsule – not with astronauts, but with paying customers. It will be orbital and include a spacewalk. No word yet on the cost. It’ll launch from Cape Canaveral in March.
JUICE – Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer – This European launch is the second biggest launch of the year.
- Psyche – This is the third big launch of the year and it’s a NASA mission. It’s going to the asteroid of the same name. It will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 10.
Of the top missions this year, NASA Ambassador Tony Rice is most looking forward to Juice.
“It's going to a place we really haven't studied in great depth before," Rice said. "We've certainly studied these moons through telescopes here on Earth and to some extent through space telescopes."
Rice explained what the JUICE mission could reveal about life on Earth.
"They hold so much promise to really reveal how our solar system formed, and possibly might have some evidence of past life," Rice said. "There are theories to say that's maybe where life originated on Earth, is that it came from one of these moons. We won’t know until we go."
The best times to view launches are on clear skies overnight, and around sunrise and sunset.
Contact KJ Jacobs at kjacobs3@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.