United Space Alliance and Spacehab have agreed jointly to develop commercial markets for the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. United operates the Space Shuttle for NASA, while Spacehab operates habitable extension modules in the Shuttle's mid-deck. The firms will focus on expanding the non-government market for life and materials experiments in weightlessness.
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.
