Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov has signed a decree allowing the Mir space station to remain in orbit for a further three years. The station was to have been de-orbited in June, to allow the cash-starved Russians to concentrate on their obligations to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA will be angered by the decision and concerned about its effect on the ISS assembly schedule.
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.
