As NASA's Cassini continues on course to become the first spacecraft to enter orbit around Saturn, on 30 June, it has returned high-resolution images of one of the planet's 31 known moons, Phoebe, from a distance of 13,400km (8,310 miles). Phoebe appears to be a captured asteroid or a Kuiper belt object, since it orbits Saturn in an eccentric retrograde path.
Source: Flight International
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.
BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of Ball Aerospace, with the move further strengthening its US business presence.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has retired its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the craft suffered damage upon landing.
