The European Space Agency, which is investing more than $500 million to build the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station, will have to pay Russia $25 million for modifications to the Service Module to allow it to accommodate the ATV, plus an extra $3 million "docking fee" for each visit.
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.
