India plans to carry out a test flight of its reusable rocket launcher in March in what could be a first step toward affordable access to space technology. The Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), fitted with solid strap-on thrusters, will fly at five times the speed of sound (Mach 3) to reach an altitude of more than 100 km (61 mi.) within barely 5 min.

"...Nature often surprises us, and we saw soemthing else that was really exciting," said lead researcher Daryl Haggard, of Amherst College.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has slipped the launch of its fifth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station to Jan. 9 at the earliest, following an issue with a thrust vector control actuator that stopped the countdown seconds before liftoff on Jan. 6 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral AFS.

Every day, astronauts on board the International Space Station are taking continuous trips around Earth.

In a departure from past practice, SpaceX has revamped its public launch manifest to omit mission dates.

From the lows of the SpaceShipTwo fatal crash and Antares lift-off explosion to the high of Europe’s Rosetta comet-rendezvous and landing mission, 2014 was an eventful year for the space industry.

Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Aerospace & Defense 2015 issue presents delivery forecasts for a range of industry sectors, from combat and unmanned aircraft to commercial and military transports. Those charts are presented here.

Expanded Tables Online Download expanded specifications on in-production and under-development unmanned aircraft and search more than 3,100 other systems at AviationWeek.com/specs