The International Space Station's multinational partners are working on plan to keep the orbital outpost in use until 2028. The original ISS concept called for de-orbiting in 2016. At a meeting in Japan this week space agency heads agreed to use the station until 2020 at least. They said they are all working to certificate on-orbit elements up to 2028 and "reach consensus...on the continuation...to the next decade".
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Source: Flight International
The US space agency and manufacturer AeroVironment will soon release a detailed review of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s final flight, which came at the end of three years of operations that saw 72 sorties and 2h of flight on the Red Planet.
Airbus has detailed proposed reductions that will reduce the headcount of its defence unit by approximately 5% over the next 18 months, with just over 2,000 posts to be removed.
China’s AVIC has secured a contract from the China Manned Space Agency to develop a winged, reusable spacecraft called Haolong.
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.
The Boeing X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle, operated by the US Space Force, will return to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster for its seventh long-endurance flight mission.
The US space agency is asking aerospace suppliers to design a new orbital craft that could be used to perform a controlled de-orbit of the multinational space station, which is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030.
