Space Launch has been selected to proceed with the design of the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency's (DARPA) responsive access small cargo affordable launch (RASCAL) system. RASCAL is intended to air-launch a 75kg (165lb) satellite into a 500km (270nm) sun-synchronous orbit with a cost per launch of $75,000 and a 24h turnaround time. Following 18 months of risk-reduction work, DARPA will decide whether to proceed with two flight demonstrations in 2006.
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.
