CHINESE SPACE ROCKET DEBRIS FALLS TO EARTH AND WRECKS VILLAGERS' HOUSES - China's recent blast-off of it's first ever lunar landing mission may have marked a watershed in the country's galactic ambitions - but try telling that to villagers in Suining. What appears to be debris from the 'Jade Rabbit' launch fell to Earth and wrecked a couple of houses. A resident told the Xiaoxiang Morning Post: "Three of the roof beams have crashed down on our house, and a big hole has been punched into our barn."   More
(Source: Huffington Post - Dec 4)

SIRIUSXM ANNOUNCES SIRIUS FM-6 SATELLITE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY PLACED IN ORBIT - SiriusXM today announced that Sirius FM-6, the newest addition to its satellite fleet, has been successfully placed in orbit and was declared ready for service. The new satellite, which was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, is intended to help ensure SiriusXM's array of audio entertainment and data services are received by vehicles, receivers for home and business, as well as mobile devices. It will play an important role in bolstering the continuity of SiriusXM's service for years to come.    More
(Source: MarketWatch - Dec 3)

GPM SATELLITE DELIVERED TO JAPAN AFTER SHUTDOWN DELAY - An international satellite built to extend and expand precipitation measurements from space has arrived at its Japanese launch site after a trans-Pacific flight from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. After a delay of several weeks caused by a cessation of work during the U.S. federal government shutdown in October, NASA shipped the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory to Japan last week inside a U.S. Air Force C-5M Galaxy transport plane.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 3)

RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP DELIVERS HOLIDAY GOODIES TO SPACE STATION (WITH HELP) - An unmanned cargo ship docked with the International Space Station on Friday, delivering a load of cosmic holiday goodies to the residents of the orbiting outpost. The robotic Russian Progress 53 ship arrived at the station at 5:30 p.m. ET after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 25. The resupply ship is loaded up with food, fuel and other supplies, including personal cards and holiday wishes for the station's Expedition 38 crew.   More
(Source: NBC News - Dec 2)

ROCKET BURN PUTS INDIAN PROBE ON COURSE TO MARS - India's first robotic Mars probe set sail for the red planet Saturday with a vital rocket burn to catapult the spacecraft out of the realm of Earth's gravity and into interplanetary space. The Mars Orbiter Mission, India's first Mars probe, is due to enter orbit around the red planet on Sept. 24, 2014, two days after NASA's MAVEN Mars probe arrives.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)

CHINESE MOON LANDER ON THE VERGE OF LAUNCH - China has scheduled the launch of an ambitious robotic lunar rover as soon as Sunday on a quest to achieve the first soft landing on the moon in more than three decades. The Chang'e 3 mission is China's third moon probe, following two successful orbiters that surveyed the lunar surface and mapped landing zones.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 29)

ENGINE TROUBLE DELAYS SPACEX LAUNCH ON THANKSGIVING - Topped with a television broadcasting satellite, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket fired its engines and was moments away from liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, but the commercial booster aborted the launch after computers detected the engines were too slow building up thrust. Engineers raced to understand and resolve the problem, but they could not get comfortable enough to attempt the launch again before Thursday's time-constrained flight opportunity closed.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 29)

SPACE STATION LAUNCH SET FOR DEC. 15 - The launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s first commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station is set for Dec. 15 at 10:52 p.m. The launch of the 130-foot Antares rocket should be visible from a large area of the East Coast. It will be Orbital’s fifth rocket launched this year from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility.   More
(Source: Delmarva Now - Nov 28)

RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP LIFTS OFF WITH HOLIDAY GOODIES FOR SPACE STATION - An unmanned cargo-carrying spacecraft launched on its way toward the International Space Station on Monday for a post-Thanksgiving Day docking with the orbiting lab. The unmanned Russian Progress 53 ship launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:53 p.m. ET, loaded up with tons of food, fuel and other supplies — including some holiday goodies for the space station's Expedition 38 crew. The International Space Station passed directly over the launch pad four minutes before the Progress launched to space. The vessel is scheduled to dock with the orbiting outpost on Friday.   More
(Source: NBC News - Nov 27)

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