Orbital Sciences is to acquire the space systems business of CTA for $12 million in cash and the assumption of $25 million in debt. The CTA unit manufactures small satellites and had 1996 sales of $80 million, with an order backlog exceeding $150 million.
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.
