The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft captured its first close-range images of the Moon in January, during a sequence of test lunar observations from an altitude between 1,000km (620 miles) and 5,000km above the lunar surface. The European probe entered its first orbit around the Moon on 15 November 2004 and spent the next two months spiralling down to a lower orbit.
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.
