India successfully launched a small capsule into orbit for 12 days, de-orbited it, and recovered it successfully from the Bay of Bengal. This is more for space experiments, a very small unit, but it’s not too hard to see India scaling it up to eventually attempt manned spaceflight.

The New Scientist points out the the anti-satellite weapon the Chinese launched into orbit is easy enough to build any country can do it. Space effectively has just become militarized.

Former PayPal founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX is test firing his Falcon 1 rocket this Friday, and hoping for a launch on the 21st or 22nd. The previous attempt blew up, so here’s hoping the second time’s a charm. SpaceX is one of the winners of the NASA COTS competition, which could mean solid income for this private space company if the Falcon 9 is able to deliver test flights and then cargo.

You don’t think of Ohio as a place that gets in on private space access, but they’re trying to get PlanetSpace and their SilverDart rocketship to land or build rockets there.

The shuttle returns to earth without incident, though this close to Christmas, I’m surprised they didn’t stay up for an astronaut Christmas in space.