The US Air Force's Lockheed Martin-built GPS 2R-II navigation satellite was launched by Boeing Delta II from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 20 March. The much-delayed Delta II launch of NASA's Gravity Probe B is planned for 17 April from Vandenberg AFB, California. NASA's Messenger Mercury orbiter is to be launched by Delta II-Heavy from Canaveral after 30 July.
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.
