NASA'S Lunar Prospector has entered its 100km circular polar orbit around the Moon. The Lockheed Martin-built, 295kg Discovery-series craft, which was launched on 6 January, will be used to conduct an intensive one-year survey of the Moon. It will use five instruments.
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.
