Japan's Automated Landing Flight Experiment (AFLEX) craft had its first flight on 6 July, simulating the landing of the proposed Hope unmanned spaceplane. The AFLEX, a one-third-scale Hope model, was released from a helicopter at 4,900ft (1,500m) altitude and reached a maximum speed of 155kt (290km/h) during the glide flight at Australia's Woomera Range.
Source: Flight International