Experimental rockets, Moon landers, planetary flybys, breathtaking spacewalks, and vintage boosters—these are just a few of the many stories that contributed to the most striking and memorable images of 2023.
Indeed, the past 12 months have been a whirlwind of activity in the realm of spaceflight, whether in the lab, on the launch pad, or in space itself. The resulting visuals from the past year are particularly stunning, as humanity continues to push the limits of what’s possible. So without further ado, we present to you our favorite spaceflight images of 2023.
A 3D-printed rocket takes flight
Relativity Space’s Terran 1 blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on March 23. The 110-foot-tall (33.5-meter) two-stage rocket, made up of 85% 3D-printed components by mass, failed to reach orbit, but the flight strongly hinted at the viability of the concept.
Mars is beautiful in the mor-noon
On April 8, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover snapped panoramas of Mars at two different times, 9:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m. local time, using its navigation cameras. These images were later combined and colorized for artistic effect, with blue indicating morning and yellow for afternoon. The end result is pure extraterrestrial bliss.
Starship, ascend!
This might be my favorite spaceflight image of the year. Taken atop the 480-foot-tall (146-meter) launch mount at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, it shows the methane-generated plume emanating from Starship’s 33 Raptor engines, with the Sun in the background rising above the Gulf of Mexico. The image was captured on November 18 during the second flight test of the experimental megarocket.
Artemis Moon suit unveiled
NASA unveiled the first prototype of its next-generation spacesuit during its Moon to Mars event in March. Developed in collaboration with Axiom Space, it’s the first moonwalking spacesuit since the Apollo era, designed for astronauts to wear on the lunar surface under NASA’s Artemis program. In case you’re wondering, the final versions will feature reflective all-white coveralls to better protect moonwalking astronauts from solar radiation. Artemis 3, in which these suits will be utilized, is currently scheduled for 2025, but it most likely won’t happen until 2027 due to delays developing this suit and SpaceX’s Starship lunar landing component.
An unreal view of Earth from the Moon
Danuri, otherwise known as the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, captured this remarkable high-res view of Earth in December 2022 that the Korean Aerospace Research Institute released on January 2. The probe was around 213 miles (344 kilometers) above the lunar surface at the time.
Mystery object
On July 16, a suspected rocket fragment was discovered on the shores near Jurien Bay in Western Australia. The object, measuring 8 feet wide, showed significant damage and signs of long-term exposure to water. By July 30, the Australian Space Agency had identified the debris as likely originating from a discarded Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)—a medium-lift rocket routinely launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The OSIRIS-REx capsule landing
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx capsule containing surface samples from asteroid Bennu landed successfully on the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range on September 24. I love the starkness of this photo, showing the isolated capsule and its parachute lying closeby. The charred capsule was swiftly recovered and delivered to the space agency’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate (ARES) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Scientists managed to recover samples outside of the canister exterior, despite not yet being able to access the full load inside.
India on the Moon
On August 23, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission landed safely on the Moon, making India the fourth nation to accomplish this milestone, following the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. This image, captured by the Vikram lander’s rover, has most assuredly secured a place in India’s history books.
Ultraviolet Mars
In July 2022 and January 2023, NASA’s Mars orbiter MAVEN captured ultraviolet images of Mars, which were released by the space agency in late June. The image on the left depicts the southern hemisphere of Mars during its summer, while the right image captures the northern hemisphere in winter. The latter image shows a substantial accumulation of ozone (indicated in shades of violet and purple) in the northern region.
There’s no place like home
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio unintentionally established a new record for the lengthiest continuous space mission by a U.S. astronaut, having spent over a year aboard the International Space Station. Rubio, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, returned to Earth on September 27. Their journey back was aboard the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, concluding a remarkable 371-day stint in orbit.
Taking a ride aboard Canadarm2
This very cool image shows NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg riding the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk on June 9. At the time, Hoburg was in the process of transporting a roll-out solar array to its intended location on the Starboard-6 truss segment of the ISS.
Starship stage separation
This breathtaking view of Starship during stage separation was captured by a tracking camera during the megarocket’s second test flight on November 18.
A ‘donut’ on Mars
In June, NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this image of a very donut-like rock on Mars. It’s probably a meteorite, with the neighboring chunks having sprung from the donut-hole-like hole.
A possible Artemis landing site
This is the Malapert massif region near the Moon’s south pole—a potential landing site for future NASA astronauts. Imaged by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, it presents a stark yet captivating landscape. Captured on March 3 from about 106 miles (170 kilometers) near Shackleton crater, this image was taken by the orbiter’s three-camera system, which has been producing high-resolution grayscale lunar images since 2009.
ULA’s ‘Bruiser’ rocket takes flight
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on September 10, carrying the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 mission for the U.S. Space Force. ULA’s “bruiser” configuration, the most powerful variant of the Atlas rocket, features five boosters each delivering over 371,000 pounds of additional thrust. This photo, snapped by husband-and-wife team Charles and Jennifer Briggs, captures this immense power in vivid detail.
Oh, hey there, Mercury
The BepiColombo mission, a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), achieved its nearest pass to Mercury on June 19. During this approach, the spacecraft came to within approximately 146 miles (236 kilometers) of Mercury’s surface, enabling it to take detailed images of the tiny planet, providing a close-up look at one of the solar system’s innermost bodies.
Juno spots Jupiter and Io
Hours before its 53rd close encounter with Jupiter on July 31, NASA’s Juno probe zipped past Jupiter’s fiery moon, Io. During this maneuver, the spacecraft captured a striking image showcasing both the gas giant and its volcanic moon together in a single frame.
Final flight
On July 6, ESA’s Ariane 5 rocket launched for the last time, ending a storied 27-year run for the European rocket. The nighttime launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, provided for a spectacular sight.
Streaks of molten badness
See those slender streaks spewing out from the engine plume on the far left? That’s molten metal, and that’s bad. It means the engine is cannibalizing itself, or as rocket scientists say, it’s a sign of combustion chamber burn-through. Astra ran this test in the wake of its Rocket 3.3 anomaly from 2022, finding the cause to be fuel injector blockage resulting in the burn-through. Astra announced the conclusions of its investigation in March.
Spotting a crash site on the Moon
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spotted a new crater on the Moon, believed to be the crash site of Russia’s Luna 25 mission—its first lunar endeavor in almost 50 years. The Luna 25 lander’s descent, which began on August 19, ended disastrously with the spacecraft crashing onto the Moon’s surface near the Pontécoulant G crater’s southwest rim on August 21. The resultant crater, visible in LRO images, measures approximately 32.8 feet (10 meters) across.
Big badda boom
During a ground test in July, a second stage engine intended for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Epsilon S rocket suffered a dramatic explosion in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, in northeastern Japan. No one was hurt, but the facility was very badly damaged.
Training for the Moon at the bottom of a pool
In Houston, Texas, an underwater facility was revamped to train astronauts for upcoming Artemis Moon missions. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA’s Sonny Carter Training Facility, where astronauts have practiced maneuvering in weightlessness for over 30 years, is now adapting its 40-foot-deep pool to mimic lunar conditions.
Vintage boosters hit the LA streets
Well here’s something you don’t see every day: Space Shuttle rocket boosters being transported through a bustling city street, drawing a crowd of awe-struck onlookers. The boosters made the move to the future site of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on October 11, where they’re being assembled as part of the “Go for Stack” project—the first and only “ready-to-launch” Space Shuttle stack.
Picture day
Behold NASA’s official crew portrait for the upcoming Artemis 2 mission. From left, NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. These four astronauts will be the first to travel around the Moon and back since the Apollo era, embarking on a critical round-trip mission that encompasses lunar orbit without making a landing. Artemis 2 is currently scheduled for late 2024.
When an asteroid is actually three
NASA’s Lucy probe performed a close flyby of the Dinkinesh asteroid on November 1, revealing not one, but three asteroids. The two moons, which rub against each other, were initially presumed to a single object. The space agency says it’s the first direct observation of a contact binary orbiting an asteroid. Lucy is currently en route to visit Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, but this served as nice sneak peak of its capabilities.
A stunning view of the Moon’s Shackleton Crater
In September, NASA unveiled a composite image of an impact crater that’s perpetually shrouded in the darkness at our Moon’s south pole. This image was created by merging the high light-sensitivity capabilities of NASA’s ShadowCam with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s capacity to observe areas engulfed in shadows. This collaboration allowed scientists to produce a unique and highly detailed view of the Shackleton Crater, revealing features never seen before.
Mars in real-time
On June 2, a historic moment unfolded as ESA’s Mars Express transmitted a live stream of images from Mars for the first time ever. Normally, due to technological constraints, it takes several hours or even days for images from Mars to be received on Earth. Accordingly, this achievement marked a significant breakthrough in space communications.
Starship in flight
Okay, one last view of SpaceX’s Starship, this one of the megarocket in flight during the second test. Unlike the first test in April, in which several engines failed, all 33 Raptor engines stayed alight. The megarocket performed a successful stage separation, but both stages eventually exploded during the eight-minute mission.