The European Space Agency says that the cause of the "roll torque" experienced by the Ariane 502 launcher on 30 October, resulting in it reaching a lower-than-planned orbit, was an unexpected reaction to the separation of the solid-rocket boosters. The attempt to recover the boosters in the sea, as planned, failed when the parachutes did not deploy correctly.
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.
