NASA has awarded Orbital Sciences a $35 million contract to launch two science satellites in 2002, using its Pegasus air-launched booster.
The US/Canadian SCISAT-1 mission to study ozone production in the upper atmosphere will lift off from Vandenberg AFB, California, in the second quarter of 2002.
The Orbital-built Solar Radiation and Climate Observer will be flown from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in July 2002.
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.
