The second expedition crew aboard the International Space Station took this image of Sicily's Mount Etna erupting. Several spacecraft, including NASA's Terra polar platform and the Orbital Sciences OrbView, equipped with the SeaWifs sensor, have been monitoring the eruption and its effects on the environment, including lava movement in the immediate area and the extent of the volcanic plume and dust in the atmosphere.
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.
