AlliedSignal Aerospace will supply the vehicle-management system (VMS) for the Kistler K-1 reusable launch vehicle. Each VMS will include computer, power control unit, transponder, antenna and integration platform. The Kistler launch system is intended to place 4,000kg payloads into low-Earth orbit (Flight International, 23-29 October, 1996).
Source: Flight International
China’s AVIC has secured a contract from the China Manned Space Agency to develop a winged, reusable spacecraft called Haolong.
The UK Space Command’s first owned earth observation microsatellite has been launched, providing the inaugural element of a planned space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) constellation.
Orbital launch pioneer SpaceX is being contracted by the American space agency NASA to develop a so-called “US Deorbit Vehicle” that can safely return the International Space Station to Earth via controlled re-entry.
