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An Australian project to create a reusable vehicle to launch small satellites is a step closer after flying a small-scale test model in Brisbane. The test vehicle was built and flown by Australian Droid and Robot, a drone start-up by Dr Joe Cronin - best known for managing the load haul dump (LHD) automation project at the former Rio Tinto-owned Northparkes mine in NSW - and rocket scientist Dawid Preller. The entire Austral Launch Vehicle (ALV) project is being run by Heliaq Engineering Services and involves multiple partners including Australian Droid and Robot and the University of Queensland. The project...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese legend holds that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) man named Wan Hu aimed for the stars by holding kites in each hand and strapping himself to a chair as 47 servants lit 47 gunpowder-packed bamboo tubes tied to his seat. A roar followed. After the smoke dissipated, the chair was gone, along with Wan Hu. It was unclear if what was purported to be the world's first manned rocket ever made it to the skies. Today, China is counting down the days to its first manned space launch and hoping to avoid the same fate as Wan...