Starship lifts off from Starbase in Texas.
Picture credit score: SpaceX webcast.
Nicely area followers, we at the moment are three-quarters by 2023, and it has been a barnburner to date. House launch information are falling because the world is properly on its method to launching greater than 200 instances this yr. There have additionally been main accomplishments in robotic area exploration. Let’s check out the stats, the most important highlights, and the low factors as we head into the fourth quarter.
Prime 5 Highlights
- SpaceX launched the maiden flight of its Starship/Tremendous Heavy.
- OSIRIS-REx returned a pattern from the asteroid Bennu.
- India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the Moon.
- Virgin Galactic started business suborbital service.
- Frank Rubio set a brand new American area endurance report.
Prime 5 Low Factors
- Russia’s Luna-25 lander crashed on the Moon.
- ispace’s Hakuto-R lander crashed on the Moon.
- Virgin Orbit went out of enterprise.
- Prime NASA officers informed the GAO the House Launch System is unsustainable.
- An Impartial Evaluate Board concluded that Mars Pattern Return is severely underfunded.
Information Set
- Variety of folks in orbit on the identical time: 17 – 11 Worldwide House Station (ISS), 6 Tiangong
- Variety of folks in area on the identical time: 20 –11 ISS, 3 Tiangong, 6 VSS Unity*
- American endurance report: 371 days – Frank Rubio
- Launches by identical rocket household: 69 launches – SpaceX Falcon
- Reuse of launch automobile first stage: 17 instances – SpaceX Falcon 9
* By US definition, area begins at an altitude of fifty miles (80.5 km). The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, which retains aviation and area information, acknowledges 100 km (62.1 miles) because the boundary of area. VSS Unity has by no means surpassed the 100 km boundary.
House Station Missions
Crewed & Cargo House Station Missions
By way of September 29, 2023
| Date | Launch Automobile | Spacecraft | Goal | Crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 9, 2023 | Soyuz-2.1a | Progress MS-22/83P | ISS cargo | None |
| Feb. 24, 2023 | Soyuz-2.1a | Soyuz MS-23 | Alternative for Soyuz MS-22 | None |
| March 2, 2023 | Falcon 9 | Crew Dragon (Crew-6) | ISS crew | Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Sultan Al Neyadi, Andrey Fedyaev |
| March 12, 2023 | — | Crew Dragon (Crew-5) | ISS crew return | Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata, Anna Kikina |
| March 15, 2023 | Falcon 9 | Cargo Dragon (CRS-27) | ISS cargo | None |
| Might 10, 2023 | Lengthy March 7 | Tianzhou 6 | Tiangong cargo | None |
| Might 21, 2023 | Falcon 9 | Crew Dragon (Ax-2) | ISS business | Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali AlQarni, Rayyanah Barnawi |
| Might 24, 2023 | Russia Soyuz-2.1a | Progress MS-23 (84P) | ISS cargo | None |
| Might 30, 2023 | China Lengthy March 2F/G | Shenzhou 16 | Tiangong crew | Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, Gui Haichao |
| Might 31, 2023 | — | Crew Dragon (Ax-2) | Crew return | Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali AlQarni, Rayyanah Barnawi |
| June 3, 2023 | — | Shenzhou-15 | Crew return | Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming. Zhang Lu |
| June 5, 2023 | Falcon 9 | Cargo Dragon (CRS-28) | ISS cargo | None |
| Aug. 2, 2023 | Antares | Cygnus S.S. Laurel Clark (NG-19) | ISS cargo | None |
| Aug. 23, 2023 | Russia Soyuz-2.1a | Progress MS-24 (85P) | ISS cargo | None |
| Aug. 26, 2023 | Falcon 9 | Crew Dragon (Crew-7) | ISS crew | Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, Konstantin Borisov |
| Sept. 4, 2023 | — | Crew Dragon (Crew-6) | ISS crew return | Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Sultan Al Neyadi, Andrey Fedyaev |
| Sept. 15, 2023 | Soyuz-2.1a | Soyuz MS-24 | ISS crew | Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Loral O’Hara |
| Sept. 27, 2023 | — | Soyuz MS-23 | ISS crew return | Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, Francisco Rubio |
Launch Statistics
ISS crewed missions launched: 4
ISS crewed spacecraft launched empty: 1
ISS astronauts/cosmonauts launched: 15
ISS astronauts/cosmonauts returned: 11
ISS cargo missions: 6
Tiangong crewed missions launched: 1
Tiangong taikonauts launched: 3
Tiangong taikonauts returned: 3
Tiangong cargo missions: 1
Nationalities Launched
American: 6
Russian: 4
Chinese language: 3
Saudi: 2
Danish: 1
Emirati: 1
Japanese: 1
Crewed Suborbital Missions
Crewed Suborbital Flights
By way of September 29, 2023
| Date | Pilots | Cabin | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Might 25, 2023 | Michael Masucci (C), CJ Sturckow (P) | Beth Moses (I), Luke Mays, Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Huie | Flight check |
| June 29, 2023 | Michael Masucci (C), Nicola Pecile (P) | Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi, Pantaleone Carlucci, Colin Bennett (I) | Microgravity analysis |
| Aug. 10, 2023 | CJ Sturckow (C), Kelly Latimer (P) | Jon Goodwin, Keisha Schahaff, Anastatia Mayers, Beth Moses (I) | House tourism |
| Sept. 8, 2023 | Michael Masucci (C), Nicola Pecile (P) | Timothy Nash, Ken Baxter, Adrian Reynard, Beth Moses (I) | House tourism |
P: Pilot
I: Chief Astronaut Teacher
Prime 5 Launches
- Starship/Tremendous Heavy’s maiden flight.
- Virgin Galactic first business mission.
- ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE).
- House Pioneer’s Tianlong-2 profitable maiden flight.
- Axiom House’s Ax-2 business mission to ISS.
There have been 160 launches by the primary 9 months of the yr, with 151 successes and 9 failures. There have been 186 launches with 178 successes, seven failures and one partial failure in 2022.
Launches by Nation
Launches by Nation (Prime 5)
By way of September 29, 2023
| Nation | Successes | Failures | Whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 80 | 5 | 85 |
| China | 44 | 1 | 45 |
| Russia | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| India | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Japan | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Launches by Firm/Company
Launches by Firm/Company (Prime 5)
By way of September 29, 2023
| Firm/Company | Successes | Failures | Whole | Payloads Orbited |
Payloads Misplaced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX (USA) | 69 | 1 | 70 | 1,934 | 12* |
| China Aerospace Science and Know-how Company (CASC) | 30 | 0 | 30 | 108 | 0 |
| Roscosmos (Russia) | 10 | 0 | 10 | 55 | 0 |
| Rocket Lab (USA) | 7 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 1 |
| Indian House Analysis Organisation (ISRO) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 51 | 0 |
Launches by Booster
Launches by Booster (Prime 5)
By way of September 29, 2023
| Launch Automobile | Firm/Company | Successes | Failures | Whole |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcon 9 | SpaceX | 66 | 0 | 66 |
| Lengthy March 2C, 2D | China Aerospace Science and Know-how Corp. | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Soyuz-2.1a, 2.1b | Roscosmos, Russia Strategic Rocket Forces | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Electron | Rocket Lab | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Ceres-1, 1S | Galactic Power | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Launch Failures
Launch Failures
By way of September 29, 2023
| Launch Automobile | Firm/Company | Failure | Launch Automobile Flight No. | Launch Automobile File |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceres-1 | Galactic Power | TBA | 10 | 9-1 |
| Chollima-1 | Nationwide Aerospace Growth Administration | Second stage didn’t ignite correctly; third stage destruct system activated by accident | 1, 2 | 0-2 |
| Electron | Rocket Lab | Second stage didn’t ignite correctly | 40 | 37-3^ |
| H3 | Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) | Second stage didn’t ignite | 1 | 0-1 |
| LauncherOne* | Virgin Orbit+ | Second stage stopped firing early | 6 | 4-2 |
| RS1 | ABL House Programs | First stage engines failed | 1 | 0-1 |
| Starship/Tremendous Heavy | SpaceX | First stage engine failures, no stage separation | 1 | 0-1 |
| Terran 1* | Relativity House | Second stage didn’t ignite correctly | 1 | 0-1 |
* Launch automobile retired
+ Firm defunct
5 of the 9 failures occurred on the maiden flights of recent boosters, which isn’t an unusual outcome. North Korea’s Chollima-1 rocket failed on its first and second flights. LauncherOne’s failure on the primary orbital launch from the UK proved to be a deadly blow to Virgin Orbit, which declared chapter months later and ceased operations. Relativity House determined to retire Terran 1 after one unsuccessful flight, and is now specializing in growing the bigger Terran R booster.
Editor’s notice (September 29, 2023): This text was up to date post-publication with the outcomes of a Falcon 9 launch scheduled for later within the day.
