Space.com has got China fever with two stories about the world's most populous nation's intentions in space.
A government official has apparently expressed hopes it can join the International Space Station as a partner. I think some US members of Congress will have something to say about that and it won't be positive.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has lots of info on its Kaguya/Selene lunar orbiter mission here at its mission webpage and a specific update on its "baby satellite" deployments from the probe can be seen here
A somewhat more delayed project is Russia's Khrunichev Space Center designed Angara family of rockets, which according to RIA Novosti, qouting the country's first deputy prime minister, will now start test flights in 2011.
But IMHO it will probably be for the common core booster Angara 1.1. It has the smallest payload capability of the family but you can read more about it and its development at Flight's article here
One launcher that does do its job already with fantastic reliability is the Samarra Space Center built Soyuz, which launched Rocket and Space Corporation Energia's Soyuz TMA-11 manned spacecraft to the ISS on 10 October and NASA.gov is now reporting its successfull docking to the ISS.
While the state owned Chinese Xinhua news agency is reporting that the head of China’s civil space programme is talking about spacewalks "by the end of the decade" rather than the previous plan that called for the next manned mission that included a spacewalk next year...
RIA Novosti has a report about the launch this week of the International Space Station's first female commander and Malayasia's first astronaut
NASAspaceflight.com tells all about the latest United Launch Alliance Atlas V lofting a new military satellite into orbit
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