The European Space Agency is studying modification and commercialisation of the Ariane 5-launched Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station. Changes include making it a reusable tug and launch on a new reusable vehicle like the proposed Lockheed Martin VentureStar.
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.
