NASA has announced the dates of the next Space Shuttle missions which will support the International Space Station (ISS). STS 102/Discovery flies on 8 March, STS 100/Endeavour will follow on 19 April and STS 104/Atlantis on 8 June. The launch of STS 98/Atlantis carrying the US laboratory module Destiny to the ISS is set for 8 February.
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.
