The Hughes HSG 1 communications satellite is making a second loop around the moon, having completed one such flight in an attempt to salvage the former Asiasat 3, stranded in useless orbit after a Proton failure in December. The new flightpath will refine the satellite's trajectory, to achieve the best possible final Earth orbit.
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.
