The first wing assembly for NASA's Orbital Sciences-built X-34 spaceplane technology demonstrator has been completed in a major milestone towards the first air-launched flights next year. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, meanwhile, has invited proposals for Future X vehicles as part of the continued series of demonstrators to validate technologies beyond those used in the X-34 and X-33 programmes. Contract awards are to be made in December.
Source: Flight International
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.
BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of Ball Aerospace, with the move further strengthening its US business presence.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has retired its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the craft suffered damage upon landing.
