NASA's Galileo Jupiter orbiter made a 180km (110 mile) pass over the planet's volcanic moon Io on 16 October. The craft flew over Io's south pole in the hope of taking an image of Loki, one of the most powerful volcanoes in the solar system. Galileo survived three-and-a-half times the radiation it was designed to withstand.
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.
