NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will be launched aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta 2 booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 16 February. The NEAR will enter orbit around the asteroid Eros in 1999.
Source: Flight International
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.
BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of Ball Aerospace, with the move further strengthening its US business presence.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has retired its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the craft suffered damage upon landing.
