NASA's GALILEO Orbiter has provided data which indicate that Jupiter's moon, Io, has an iron core like that of the Earth. No other iron-cored body has yet been found in the Solar System.
The Galileo was flown past Io at a distance of 900km shortly after entering orbit around Jupiter last December. Io, which is about the same size as the Earth's Moon, has an iron and iron sulphide metallic core with a radius of 900km, and possibly its own magnetic field.
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.
