NAPLES, Italy — Crewmembers on China’s next mission to the Tiangong-1 mini-space station will practice on-orbit repairs and refueling techniques, as preparations continue for launch of a three-module station by the end of the decade. The Shenzhou 10 crew has not been selected yet, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office. The mission next year will continue work started with the Shenzhou 9 flight in June, Wang says, adding to China’s experience with rendezvous and docking.

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NAPLES, Italy — The European Space Agency (ESA) will propose making minor improvements to its new Vega rocket when the agency’s council of ministers meets in November to set ESA’s multiyear budget. One such improvement would involve boosting the fuel capacity of Vega’s P80 engine to compensate for a planned shift in the rocket’s launch trajectory, which Fabrizi says is necessary to ensure telemetry is accurately received from a ground-tracking station.

NAPLES, Italy — Russia’s Rockot small-satellite launcher will remain in service for government and commercial missions through the end of this decade, when the new Angara 1 light launcher in development at Russia’s Krunichev Space Center is expected to come online.

NASA wants to beef up its heavy-lift Space Launch System from 70 metric tons to 130.

'In the second orbit-raising exercise, the satellite has been placed to its designated geostationary orbit'

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute’s (NSBRI) Industry Forum is seeking competitive proposals for up to $250,000 in financial assistance under its Space Medicine and Related Technologies Commercialization Assistance Program to make traditional medical services suitable for human spaceflight applications or adapt advances in space medicine for use in traditional medical care. The deadline for submissions in the first of a two-stage competition process is Nov. 5. The Industry Forum will select successful first stage applicants by Dec. 10.

NAPLES, Italy — The space programs of the world are likely to become more competitive in the decades ahead, as industry takes a larger role in human access to space, but space agency leaders say spacefaring nations still must take the lead in pushing the boundaries of human exploration.