Construction of the International Space Station restarted last week following the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS 112 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 7 October. The mission carried the $390 million, 12.5t ITS S1 - the first starboard truss segment and the third of 11 truss parts to be delivered to the ISS. Installation of the truss segment began on 10 October with the first of three planned EVAs.
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.
