The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the country's first science satellite in 2007. The 1.6t Astrosat will be placed into a 560km, 18¡ inclination orbit aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite will concentrate on X-ray observations.
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.
