QinetiQ Space won a European Space Agency contract to develop an International Berthing Docking Mechanism, which the Farnborough, England, company says will allow smaller spacecraft to either dock or berth with the international space station at lower speeds than current ship-to-ship interfaces allow. Under the first phase of the contract, which runs through 2015, QinetiQ will develop and build an engineering model to be tested on the ground, according to a June 3 press release. QinetiQ said this contract is expected to lead to a follow-on development phase lasting until 2017.
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