A sixth Czech satellite, Mimosa, was orbited on 30 June by a Rokot booster from Plesetsk, Russia. The launch cost €750,000 ($857,000), most of which will be deducted from Russia's debt to the Czech Republic. Mimosa will measure the forces that affect the trajectory of objects in space, to predict the exact location of satellites.
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.
