Space Calendar February 2023: Happenings in Space

These dates are subject to change. Launch dates are taken from Space.com.

February 2: Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will pass within 26 million miles (42 million km) of Earth. If visible, it will climb progressively higher during the early evening hours in the north-northeast sky, passing within 10 degrees of Polaris, the North Star, on Jan. 30 and within 1.5 degrees of the brilliant winter star Capella on February 5.

February 5: The full moon of February, known as the Snow Moon, arrives at 1:29 p.m. EST (1829 GMT)

February 5: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Amazonas Nexus communications satellite for Hispasat from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.

February 9: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the 83rd Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station.

February 11/12: A Japanese H3 rocket will launch on its first test flight with the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 3, or ALOS 3, an Earth observation satellite for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The launch is scheduled to take place from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, with the launch window commencing at 8:37 p.m. EST (February 11), 0137 GMT (February 12).

February 19/20: Russia's space agency will launch an empty Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station in February to replace a damaged spacecraft that is unsafe to return its crew of three to Earth. The launch is scheduled for 8:57 p.m. EST (February 19), 0157 GMT (February 20).

February 20: The new moon arrives at 2:06 a.m. EST (0706 GMT).

February 26: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program's ninth flight with astronauts. The Crew 6 mission will include NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren "Woody" Hoburg, UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will launch on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. The launch is scheduled for 2:07 a.m. EST (0707 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Source: SPACE.com