ROCKWELL Space Systems is to provide worldwide marketing, sales and payload integration services for the NPO Yuzhnoye of Ukraine Cyclone launch vehicle. The Cyclone, developed from the SS-9 intercontinental ballistic missile, is capable of lifting an 1,360kg payload into low-, or medium- Earth orbit. The deal is " vital for possible future co-operation", says Robert Minor, president of Space Systems.
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.
