Starsem has won a contract from the European Space Agency for two launches of its Soyuz booster from Baikonur in 2005. Each will carry a Galileo System Test Bed satellite for in-orbit validation of the satellite navigation system. The system will comprise 27 active and three back-up satellites in medium-Earth orbit.
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.
