Arianespace launched an Ariane 42P booster from Kourou on 2 April, carrying India's Insat 2E communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. It was the 44th successful consecutive flight of an Ariane 4. Arianespace has 38 satellites and one constellation launch on its orderbook and a further 11 flights planned for this year. The latest Russian Progress Mir supply ship, M-41, docked with the space station on 4 April.
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.
