5 most exciting Space Missions in 2023: OSIRIS-REx, SpaceX, Psyche asteroid mission, more (NASA)

After successful missions like Artemis-I, DART and James Webb Space Telescope in 2022, the next 12-months will be even more exciting due to some critically important space missions being slated for launch. Check the top 5 here. (NASA)

The return to Earth of OSIRIS-REx: Launched back on 8 September 2016 by NASA, the first asteroid sample return spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx by NASA, is on its way to Earth.  (NASA)

OSIRIS-REx will deliver a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth later this year. According to plan, it’s scheduled to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land by parachute at the US Air Force’s Utah Test and Training Range. (NASA)

NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission launch: Aimed for launch on October 2023, NASA wants to carry out a close-up study of the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. (JPL-NASA)

Because we cannot see or measure Earth's core directly, Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created terrestrial planets, NASA says.  (Wikimedia Commons)

New mission to Jupiter: The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission is scheduled to be launched in 2023 on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. (ESA)

The mission’s plan explains that after a 7 to 8-year cruise to Jupiter, utilizing Earth and Venus gravity assists, JUICE will go into orbit around Jupiter in 2031 to examine its moons Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto for three and a half years. (ISAS)

SpaceX Starship orbital test flight: SpaceX planned around 100 launches in 2023, but one of the exciting ones is the Starship orbital test flight. (SpaceX) 

SpaceX Starship's first orbital test flight is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2023. SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit and beyond. (SpaceX) 

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar rover: After successful discovery of water on the Moon with 2008’s Chandrayaan-1 mission, Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, which crashed into the Moon in 2019. It is to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. (Wikimedia Commons)

Chandrayaan-3 mission is expected to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in mid-2023 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra Pradesh. (AFP)