NASA has exercised an Orbital Sciences' Pegasus XL launch option under its Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contract, to launch the Wide-Field Infra- Red Explorer (WIRE) in 1998. The SELVS contract is for up to ten launches, one of which has been completed, and five others of which, including the WIRE, have been manifested (Flight International, 17-23 July).
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.
