Orbital Recovery signed at last week's ILA air show in Berlin a launch contract with Arianespace for its ConeXpress Orbital Life Extension Vehicle (CX OLEV). The spacecraft, to be launched by an Ariane 5 booster, will be an orbital space tug. It will dock with telecommunication satellites and provides fuel and other services to extend operations by 10 years or more. The contract covers the first flight in 2007 followed by four additional launches, beginning in 2008.
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.
