Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space has delivered to International Space Station prime contractor Boeing the solar array rotary joints and the second of two thermal radiator rotary joints for the station. The 3m (10ft)-diameter solar array joints are "the largest mechanisms ever designed to operate in a space environment", says Lockheed Martin. The joints will ensure the arrays and radiators will be properly aligned.
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.
