Scaled Composites' suborbital spacecraft SpaceShipOne encountered its first significant flight test problem on 23 September during its third glide flight over Mojave, California. Scaled says the problem is likely to require aerodynamic modifications to its X-Prize contender.
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.
