The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is expected to enter orbit round the comet Wirtanen at a distance of as little as 1km during a mission in 2012 which is designed to deploy a small lander on the comet. It is hoped that samples of the Wirtanen can be taken and analysed in an on-board laboratory. Daimler-Benz Aerospace's Dornier Satellite Systems division is the prime contractor for the spacecraft, scheduled to be launched in January 2003.
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.
