China launched a Long March 4B from Taiyuan on 15 May carrying the 428kg (940lb) Fengyun 1D meteorological satellite and the country's first dedicated ocean-monitoring satellite, the 360kg Haiyang 1, into polar, sun-synchronous orbit. China plans to launch the biggest-ever thermo-optical/X-ray space telescope in 2005, but has ditched plans to launch a national direct broadcast satellite.
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.
