December finally seemed to end the year relatively calmly, but that's just because this year was already filled to the brim.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - OTV-7 launched on FH to GTO.
๐จ๐ณ๐ - Return of Long March 5.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - B1058 destroyed in rough seas.
Let's hope for just as many epic events in 2024!
31.12.2023 15:33December finally seemed to end the year relatively calmly, but that's just because this year was already filled to the...Seriously though, November had some bangers as well.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Starship IFT-2 (aka IFT-1 but slighly less kerbal).
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Lucy flew past Dinkinesh, thereby discovering Dinkimoon.
๐ช๐บ๐ฅ - Ariane 6 performed a 7-minute hotfire.
November was my personal favorite.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - Starlink 6-26, 1st launch witnessed IRL by yours truly.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - Starlink 6-27, 2nd launch witnessed by yours truly.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - CRS-29, 3rd launch & landing witnessed by yours truly.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - O3b mPower 5&6, 4th launch witnessed by yours truly.
October added to the already impressive tally of 2023.
๐ฎ๐ณ๐งโ๐- Gaganyaan IFA test on India's goofiest rocket!
๐บ๐ธ๐ - NASA's Psyche launched on FH!
๐ช๐บ๐ - PLD Space successfully launched Miura 1 suborbital demonstrator.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๏ธ - First Kuiper sats launched on a comically slow Atlas V.
September had something interesting for everyone.
๐บ๐ธ๐ช - OSIRIS-REx sample capsule landed back on Earth!
๐ฏ๐ต๐ - JAXA launched XRISM X-ray telescope and SLIM lunar lander.
๐ฎ๐ณโ๏ธ - ISRO launched the Aditya-L1 solar observatory.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Stoke Space performed a successful hop test.
August was the peak of this year's Moon Season.
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ - Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon!!!
๐ท๐บ๐ - Luna-25 launched, but was less successful at the landing part.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Final launch of Antares 230+.
July was an emotional rollercoaster.
๐ช๐บ๐ - ESA's Euclid telescope launched!
๐ช๐บ๐ - The last Ariane 5. ๐ญ
๐จ๐ณ๐ - Zhuque-2 first methane rocket to reach orbit!
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฐ๏ธ - ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 launched.
June was mostly just waiting for Epic July, but the rocket industry was still hard at work:
๐บ๐ธ๐ฅ - Vulcan Flight Readiness Firing.
๐ณ๐ฟ๐ - Rocket Lab HASTE hypersonic test.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - The penultimate Delta IV Heavy.
๐ช๐บ๐ฅ - Vega-C Zefiro-40 test failure causes even more Vega delays.
We could calm down a bit in May, but not by much...
๐ฐ๐ท๐ - Nuri's first operational launch.
๐ฐ๐ต๐ - Chollima-1 failed maiden flight.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - SpaceShipTwo return-to-flight.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Blue Moon 2.0 chosen by NASA as the second lunar lander.
In fact, April was so packed that I need two toots to recap it!
๐จ๐ณ๐- Tianlong-2 successful maiden flight!
๐บ๐ธ๐งโ๐- Artemis II crew reveal!
๐ฏ๐ต๐- Hakuto-R failed lunar landing.
April, on the other hand, was simply amazing.
๐ช๐บ๐ - ESA's JUICE started its 8-year journey to Jupiter!!!
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Starship performed the most kerbal launch ever!
March was yet another ill-fated month. April couldn't come soon enough.
๐ฏ๐ต๐ - H3 failed maiden flight.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - Terran 1 failed maiden flight.
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ - Qaem 100 failed orbital flight.
๐บ๐ธ๐ฅ - Centaur V "anomaly".
February was the peak of the Coolant Leak Cinematic Universe.
๐ท๐บ๐ซง - Progress MS-21 hole in radiator...
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ - SSLV first successful launch.
๐ท๐บ๐งโ๐ - Soyuz MS-23 uncrewed launch to replace the leaking Soyuz MS-22.
January was not exactly a great start.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - LauncherOne's first UK launch sadly ended in failure, marking the end of Virgin Orbit.
๐บ๐ธ๐ - ABL's RS1 maiden flight was not successful either.
So this was 2023 in spaceflight, month by month... ๐งต
31.12.2023 15:22So this was 2023 in spaceflight, month by month... ๐งตWell that's it ๐
8.7.2023 09:36Well that's it ๐Farewell ๐
4.7.2023 12:48Farewell ๐The last Ariane 5 has just arrived at its last destination on Earth.
Liftoff tomorrow at 21:30 UTC.
Today marks 10 years since Inverted Proton-M ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
๐ฝ๏ธ: Indira Keldibekova
2.7.2023 12:55Today marks 10 years since Inverted Proton-M ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฝ๏ธ: Indira KeldibekovaThe Axiom-2 Crew Dragon will re-enter tonight around 11:00 PM Eastern (10:00 PM Central) along the following trajectory, likely visible from within a few hundred miles of that line:
30.5.2023 18:47The Axiom-2 Crew Dragon will re-enter tonight around 11:00 PM Eastern (10:00 PM Central) along the following trajectory, likely visible from...