A Russian Progress tanker, docked to the International Space Station, was due to raise the orbit of the space outpost by around 2.5km (1.5 miles), using a 342s burn of its rocket engine on 8 January, in preparation for a new Progress tanker in late January.
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.
