Orbital Sciences launched a Pegasus booster from its Lockheed L-1011 TriStar carrier over the Atlantic on 4 December, placing seven Orbcomm subsidiary satellites into orbit. It was the fourteenth consecutive successful Pegasus launch, with the number of Orbcomm satellites in space reaching 35.
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.
