Eutelsat, the European satellite communications organisation, is to launch the Europesat 1 multimedia satellite into a 29¹E geostationary orbit in mid-2000. Matra Marconi Space will build the 36-transponder craft, which will compete with the Astra satellites operated by Luxembourg-based SES, which will introduce digital services from a new slot at 28.2¹E later this year.
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.
