Swedish Space Corp is negotiating to make a "significant strategic investment" in Netherlands-based Orbital Recovery, which is developing the ConeXpress orbital life extension vehicle, or space tug. Turkey has signed a co-operation agreement with ESA. Turkey already hosts a monitoring station for Europe's EGNOS satellite-navigation system and uses data from ESA's ERS and Envisat Earth-resources satellites. n Forecast International is projecting a "modest rebound" in the commercial communications market over the next 10 years, with 270 satellites worth $26.6 billion expected to be produced between 2004 and 2013. Under US Air Force Research Laboratory funding, SpaceDev is developing a small satellite bus that is modular and scalable with standard interfaces enabling "plug-and-play" payloads to be launched within hours or days on a variety of vehicles. International Launch Services launched a US National Reconnaissance Office satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 31 August on the last flight of the Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS.
Source: Flight International
