SpaceDev has completed the first phase of a privately funded study to design a low-cost lander for Lunar Enterprise of California, concluding that the south pole of the moon is a suitable location for the Lunar Dish Observatory, offering extended periods of sunlight for power and warmth.
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.
