The Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Centre on 30 May, following a nine day 20hr mission to the International Space Station's Unity/Zarya modules. The almost flawless mission has prepared the ISS to receive the Russian Zvezda service module after its launch on 12 July and for another visit by Atlantis on mission STS 106 in September. The ISS is expected to be manned by the first Expedition Crew in October.
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.
