Peter Beck , Founder, CEO, and CTO of Rocket Lab , joins me to talk about going public, their new, bigger launch vehicle, Neutron , updates to their Electron and Photon offerings, eating hats , and avoiding eating hats in the future. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday As...
Mar 05, 2021•43 min•Ep. 183
Relativity sorta-announced a bigger launch vehicle, Terran R. A few days later, Rocket Lab really announced a bigger launch vehicle, Neutron . I hate one announcement, and love the other. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile S...
Mar 02, 2021•26 min•Ep. 182
SpaceX broke their turnaround record and is racking up quite the flight history across their Falcon fleet . Lockheed selected ABL for a launch from the Shetland Islands. Firefly shook up their board , is looking for new investment , and won a CLPS contract from NASA. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joona...
Feb 10, 2021•30 min•Ep. 181
Christian Davenport , reporter at The Washington Post , joins me to talk about the aborted SLS Green Run hot fire , the space policy landscape as we enter a new administration, Axiom’s Ax-1 mission and its crew , and Virgin Orbit’s first successful launch to orbit . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas...
Jan 28, 2021•37 min•Ep. 180
Meagan Crawford , Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SpaceFund and host of the Mission Eve podcast , joins the show to talk about the financing side of space. We talk about recent rounds of fundraising, acquisitions, holding companies, and she helps me sort through my thoughts on the whole Special Purpose Acquisition Company trend. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, C...
Jan 18, 2021•45 min•Ep. 179
Andrew Jones returns to the show for the third time to talk about China’s current missions and future plans, including Chang’e-5 , Tianwen-1 , the Chinese Space Station , and the international politics surrounding it. And then we dig into the Chinese commercial market a bit— launch companies and remote sensing companies are raising a ton of money, but it’s not yet clear what effect that will have on the global market. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producer...
Jan 11, 2021•46 min•Ep. 178
NASA awarded Venture Class Launch Services contracts to Astra, Firefly, and Relativity. Astra almost made orbit with its most recent test flight of Rocket 3.2. And something is up at Firefly , but I don’t know what yet. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Fran...
Dec 21, 2020•20 min•Ep. 177
Starship SN8 took flight last week on a mostly-successful mission to test its final descent phase. I share some thoughts on the test , the state of Starship development, and what that all means for the near future of Starship. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Ast...
Dec 14, 2020•26 min•Ep. 176
A lot of big, long-running projects have faced delays recently, and it seems like as good a time as any to check in and share some related thoughts. I cover a lot in this one: the Orion PDU issue , Ariane 6 , Japan’s H3 , Dream Chaser , Vulcan , and New Glenn . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joona...
Dec 05, 2020•25 min•Ep. 175
SpaceX Crew-1 successfully launched and docked last week , kicking off a new era of the ISS. It’s a good time to zoom out and look at the ISS program overall, and what it means for the future of space development. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Fra...
Nov 25, 2020•26 min•Ep. 174
With a massive amount of news happening in the week following the election here in the US, it’s a good opportunity to give everyone a listen in on MECO Headlines . I run through all the stories of the week each and every weekend just like this for the supporters of MECO, so if you like what you hear, join the Headlines tier or higher ! This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Nadim, Don...
Nov 14, 2020•31 min•Ep. 173
Last week, IAC 2020 brought a flurry of announcements and statements to digest. It’s a good time to check in on current and future lunar politics, with some statements by the ever-antagonistic Rogozin , seven countries signing onto the Artemis Accords , a handful of lunar development contracts announced, and the US election within sight. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Nadim, D...
Oct 20, 2020•34 min•Ep. 172
The Space Development Agency has selected L3Harris and SpaceX to produce satellites for a missile warning constellation . I break down the details of the SDA project, the technical aspects, and what it means to see SpaceX enter the world of satellite manufacturing and sales. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan...
Oct 09, 2020•23 min•Ep. 171
I’m back after a few wonderful weeks offline with my newly-arrived son, Will ! I figured I’d jump back in with a rundown of the important and notable bits of news that happened while I was gone. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian a...
Oct 05, 2020•23 min•Ep. 170
There have been a ton of recent updates from commercial small launch companies, like increased payload mass and volume from Rocket Lab, contracts and funding from ABL, solved vibration issues from Virgin Orbit, and a few others. With a handful of vehicles on the verge of their first launch, it’s a good time to take a higher-level look at these competitors. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jo...
Aug 13, 2020•26 min•Ep. 169
The long-awaited news is finally here! ULA and SpaceX have won the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 launch contracts from the US Department of Defense , which leaves Blue Origin’s New Glenn and Northrop Grumman’s OmegA out in the cold . I talk through what this means for each company and launch vehicle, and where things will go from here on all sides of the issue. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa...
Aug 10, 2020•41 min•Ep. 168
Phillip Hargrove , a Launch Vehicle Trajectory Analyst at NASA joins me to talk about NASA’s Launch Services Program . We discuss how LSP interacts with mission teams like Mars 2020 Perseverance , launch providers like United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, and what kind of work they tackle in their unique role tying it all together. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Don...
Jul 29, 2020•43 min•Ep. 167
Two members of the Astrobotic team join me for a conversation: Laura Klicker, Payload Systems Management Lead, and Daniel Gillies, Mission Director for the Griffin/VIPER mission. We talk about Astrobotic’s first Peregrine mission coming up next year, the very exciting VIPER mission to the south pole of the Moon in 2023, payload management across multiple flights, the technical aspects of their various vehicles, and a whole lot more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 exe...
Jul 23, 2020•48 min•Ep. 166
Caleb Henry of SpaceNews returns to the show to talk about the OneWeb acquisition and related fallout, Starlink antennas , the ongoing C-band drama including the satellite-buying bonanza , and he helps us understand the FCC-GPS-Ligado situation . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Ti...
Jul 21, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 165
To start, there’s exciting news! My son is due at the end of August, and so I’ll be taking some time off after he arrives. Before that, I wanted to check in on two storylines. Professional shit-stirrer Dmitry Rogozin made it pretty clear that Russia is not interested in the Artemis Program, while various countries around the world partner with NASA on it. And we’re only a few weeks out from the NSSL Phase 2 awards and there is some related budgetary considerations being debated , so it’s a good ...
Jul 17, 2020•36 min•Ep. 164
NASA recently established the Suborbital Crew office within the Commercial Crew Program, which will focus on developing a plan to fly personnel on suborbital spaceflights. At the same time, Virgin Galactic signed an agreement with NASA to provide private orbital spaceflights to the ISS. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, J...
Jul 03, 2020•18 min•Ep. 163
Grant Bonin , Senior Vice President of Business Development at Spaceflight joins me to talk about everything they’ve been up to lately, including being acquired , signing deals with SpaceX for rideshares on Starlink missions and on dedicated flights to SSO , signing deals with new launch companies and international providers , and a lot more including manifesting satellites, last-mile services, and about what makes Spaceflight unique. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 e...
Jun 26, 2020•46 min•Ep. 162
Mark Wiese , Manager of NASA’s Gateway Deep Space Logistics , joins me to talk about the logistics architecture for Gateway and, specifically, the selection of SpaceX and Dragon XL for missions in the future. He even lets me get really nerdy and responds to some of my complaints and questions from past episodes! This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob...
Jun 22, 2020•41 min•Ep. 161
Northrop Grumman was awarded $187 million for the Gateway Habitat design, which caps off NASA’s 2020 budget work for Artemis components. Additionally, Kathy Lueders was named head of human spaceflight at NASA , which is huge and fantastic news. We take a look at the Artemis program’s acquisitions so far and the road ahead under Lueders’ leadership. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, P...
Jun 17, 2020•24 min•Ep. 160
It happened ! American astronauts on American rockets from American soil. Bob and Doug successfully launched , docked to the ISS, and joined Expedition 63 . I talk about what this means for SpaceX, NASA, space policy, and where things go from here. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, T...
Jun 05, 2020•30 min•Ep. 159
The head of human spaceflight at NASA resigned last week , just before the most important crewed launch the agency has seen in a decade. However, it appears as though the resignation is related to the Artemis program and its landers. I give some thoughts on the implications of the departure, and also cover a recent development in international space politics—the Artemis Accords . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jo...
May 26, 2020•20 min•Ep. 158
NASA announced three contract awards for the Artemis Progam’s Human Landing System—a Blue Origin-led team , Dynetics , and SpaceX’s Starship . I talk through some thoughts on each landing system and what the future might hold for NASA, regarding both politics and decisions. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Dav...
May 05, 2020•37 min•Ep. 157
Sean Mahoney, CEO of Masten Space Systems joins me to talk about everything they’ve been up to lately, from flights of their terrestrial vehicles out in Mojave, NASA’s Lunar CATALYST program , their recent Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order award , and some other projects like DARPA’s XS-1 , the Broadsword engine , and XEUS . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, C...
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 156
Peter Beck , Founder, CEO, and CTO of Rocket Lab returns to the show to talk about how the industry is dealing with the pandemic , and to update us on their busy past few months, including their acquisition of Sinclair Interplanetary , flying missions to the Moon and beyond , and their work towards reusability . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russe...
Apr 22, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 155
Tim Ellis , CEO and Cofounder of Relativity joins me for an in-depth discussion about Relativity’s status and work towards their first launch. We cover everything from their company vision , funding , new headquarters , wider fairing , customer backlog, potential west coast launch site , and dive into the details of Stargate and Relativity’s materials work. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim,...
Apr 17, 2020•42 min•Ep. 154
