NASA is heading back to the drawing board for a Mars Sample Return architecture, and is accepting proposals for mission studies by May. I talk about a few takeaways from the communication of that plan, and ponder whether or not SpaceX is going to do the damn thing . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Lee, Benjamin, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Russell, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile Space, The Astrogators at SEE, Matt, Bob, Kris, Harrison, David, Frank, Ty...
Apr 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 273
NASA selected 3 teams to work on unpressurized rovers for Artemis, while Japan signed on officially to provide a pressurized rover in exchange for seats on Artemis landers. Elsewhere, Mitsubishi took a stake in Starlab, and I still needed to catch up on Starship’s 3rd flight and the ensuing update from SpaceX. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Kris, Better Every Day Studios, Tyler, Joel, Fred, Harrison, Benjamin, Donald, Lee, Russell, Warren, Pat fro...
Apr 12, 2024•30 min•Ep. 272
Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—Tiangong, reusable launchers, constellations, and the Moon. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Tyler, Jan, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Benjamin, Warren, Pat, Russell, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Theo and Violet, SmallSpark Space Systems, Steve, Fred, Stealth Julian, Better Every Day Studios, Kris, The Astrogators at SEE, David, Joonas, Pat from KC, Brandon, Donald, Josh...
Mar 19, 2024•44 min•Ep. 271
Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO of K2 Space , joins me to talk about their vision for the future of satellites and the wider space industry, what they’ve been up to lately, and what their roadmap to the launch pad looks like from here. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—David, Pat from KC, Joonas, Josh from Impulse Space, Will and Lars from Agile Space, The Astrogators at SEE, Bob, Benjamin, Russell, SmallSpark Space Systems, Theo and Violet, Matt, Ry...
Mar 14, 2024•38 min•Ep. 270
Tim Crain , Co-Founder and CTO of Intuitive Machines , joins me to talk about their recent IM-1 mission to land Odysseus on the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS program. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Russell, Chris, Josh from Impulse Space, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Warren, Ryan, Matt, Harrison, Lee Hopkins, Bob, Brandon, Stealth Julian, Frank, Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, Benjamin, Steve, The Astrogators at SEE, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.c...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 269
Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about Intuitive Machine’s successful landing despite so many issues on the mission , the future of CLPS , and the tough questions facing NASA and its budget. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Lee Hopkins, Better Every Day Studios, Joel, Jan, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Matt, Russell, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Ryan, Donald, Brandon, Joonas, Fred, Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, Pat, Small...
Mar 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 268
I catch up with a round up of stories from January: ULA’s first Vulcan launch , Blue Origin’s success with its BE-4 engines and what it means for their year , Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission , JAXA’s SLIM mission , and NASA’s announcement of Artemis delays . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Lee Hopkins, Better Every Day Studios, Joel, Jan, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Matt, Russell, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Ryan, Donald, Brandon, Joo...
Jan 26, 2024•36 min•Ep. 267
Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman of Privateer , joins me to talk about what they’re working on and what drives them as an organization. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Joonas, Tyler, Bob, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Theo and Violet, SmallSpark Space Systems, Matt, Harrison, Benjamin, Kris, Stealth Julian, Donald, David, Fred, Lee Hopkins, Pat from KC, Pat, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Dawn Aerospace...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 266
A special (free!) airing of this week’s episode of MECO Headlines . Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, Ariane 6, ISS happenings, launches, and more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Donald, Pat from KC, David, Theo and Violet, Dawn Aerospace, Steve, SmallSpark Space Systems, Jan, Chris, Bob, Tyler, Stealth Julian, Kris, Russell, Pat, Fred, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Lee, Warren, Harrison...
Dec 01, 2023•17 min•Ep. 265
ESA is looking to start a commercial cargo program while looking further ahead to commercial space stations by signing an agreement with Airbus and Voyager . Virgin Galactic is laying off 20% of its staff and ending VSS Unity flights in just a few months. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Russell, Joonas, Kris, SmallSpark Space Systems, Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, Jan, Chris, David, Warren, Stealth Julian, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Pat fr...
Nov 13, 2023•23 min•Ep. 264
Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com joins me for a roundup of space policy topics—the House Speaker mayhem, the outlook for budgets over the next year, what to do about the ISS and its related expenses, and a lot more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Frank, Kris, Tyler, Fred, Lee, Pat from KC, Dawn Aerospace, Stealth Julian, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Theo and Violet, Steve, Benjamin, Warren, Pat, Donald, Joel, David, Ryan, Will and Lars fro...
Oct 31, 2023•33 min•Ep. 263
Dr. Molly Mulligan and Dr. Ken Savin of Redwire join me to talk about successfully 3D bioprinting the first human knee meniscus on the International Space Station in their BioFabrication Facility, how this work fits into the near and far future of both health and the space market at large, and to discuss a wide-ranging set of related topics. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Donald, Lee, Fred, Kris, Benjamin, Pat, Jan, Chris, Craig from SpaceHappyHou...
Oct 27, 2023•43 min•Ep. 262
Chris Pearson (CEO) and Lars Osborne (Chief Engineer) of Agile Space join me to talk about what they’re working on, how the company has gotten to where it is today, and what’s in store for the future. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Pat from KC, Chris, Benjamin, Pat, Jan, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, Tyler, Dawn Aerospace, Bob, Fred, Joel, Donald, Frank, Lee, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Matt, Stealth Julian, Russell, Brandon, SmallSpark Spac...
Oct 23, 2023•52 min•Ep. 261
Northrop Grumman has changed plans—they’ve ended their own space station project, and will contribute to Starlab . At the same time, Blue Origin and Sierra Space are reconsidering their Orbital Reef plans , amidst changing leadership and raising money . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Jan, Frank, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, Joonas, David, Lars from Agile Space, Matt, Harrison, Theo and Violet, Kris, Pat, Stealth Julian...
Oct 19, 2023•23 min•Ep. 260
Tom Marotta of The Spaceport Company joins me to talk about what they’re working on, their vision for the future of spaceflight, spaceport operations, the demonstration they did in May , the FAA and its interaction with private companies, reentry licensing, and a whole host of other topics. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Steve, Bob, Stealth Julian, David, Harrison, Lee, Jan, Joonas, Ryan, Theo and Violet, Frank, Chris, Pat, Lars and Will from Agil...
Sep 12, 2023•57 min•Ep. 259
Jake and Anthony are joined by Loren Grush of Bloomberg to talk about her new book, The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Frank, Chris, Joel, Fred, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Steve, David, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Kris, Theo and Violet, Joonas, Lee, Bob, Stealth Julian, Pat, SmallSpark Space Systems, Harrison, Benjamin, Lars and Will from Agile Space, Ryan, Dawn Aerospace, War...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 258
Scott Tilley joins me to talk about ISRO’s success with Chandrayaan-3 , Roscosmos’ Luna-25 mission and the mystery behind it , and the state of the Deep Space Network . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Pat, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Joel, Fred, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com , Steve, Pat from KC, Joonas, Jan, Kris, David, Frank, Russell, Tyler, Lee, The Astrogators at SEE, Warren, Benjamin, SmallSpark Space Systems, Chris, Ryan, Lars and Wil...
Aug 31, 2023•54 min•Ep. 257
Amazon moved their Project Kuiper prototypes from Vulcan to Atlas V. Between that and some recent conversations I’ve had, I thought it would be a good time to check in on Kuiper and to see how they’re progressing towards deployment. I do some math, and it’s not good. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Chris, Donald, Dawn Aerospace, Will, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Benjamin, Steve, Theo and Violet, Pat, Russell, The Astrogators at SEE, Harrison...
Aug 25, 2023•32 min•Ep. 256
After the most recent show , I found a few nuggets of information in the NSSL Phase 3 documents , plus some more updates came out in a call that the Space Force had with some reporters. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Donald, Lee, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Kris, Simon, Pat, Pat from KC, Russell, Matt, Fred, Stealth Julian, SmallSpark Space Systems, Tyler, Jan, Dawn Aerospace, Ryan, Theo and Violet, David, Harrison, ...
Jul 20, 2023•27 min•Ep. 255
Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about the budgetary threat facing Mars Sample Return, the latest issue with ULA’s Vulcan vehicle, and the ongoing tweaks to the National Security Space Launch Program’s Phase 3 architecture. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Will, Tyler, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Lars from Agile Space, Harrison, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com, SmallSpark Space Systems, Pat, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Kr...
Jul 18, 2023•48 min•Ep. 254
Adrian Beil of NASASpaceFlight.com (and a long-time beloved member of the Off-Nominal Discord ) joins me to talk about the state of German and European launch, with new entrants Rocket Factory Augsburg and Isar Aerospace getting close to the launch pad, many others working their way there, and institutional launch struggling amidst delays and geopolitics. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Frank, Harrison, Dawn Aerospace, Russell, Tim Dodd (the Everyd...
Jun 14, 2023•36 min•Ep. 253
NASA selected Blue Moon as the second human lunar lander for Artemis— which is awesome !—yet the budget outlook for the next few years is…not good. I think through what NASA can, should, and might do in the face of a grim budget reality. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Pat from KC, Brad, Theo and Violet, Matt, Fred, Robb, Simon, Dawn Aerospace, SmallSpark Space Systems, Moritz, Donald, Frank, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Kris, Harrison...
May 31, 2023•26 min•Ep. 252
Live from the Redwire booth at Space Symposium 2023! I discuss the business and finance side of spaceflight, with Caleb Henry (Quilty Space), Peter Beck (Rocket Lab), and Jonathan Baliff (CFO, Redwire). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Pat, Fred, Robb, Steve, Dawn Aerospace, Matt, Theo and Violet, Bob, Benjamin, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Donald, Lee, Pat from KC, Warren, Tyler, David, Jan, Chris, Stealth Julian, The Astrogators at SEE, Smal...
May 04, 2023•46 min•Ep. 251
Live from the Redwire booth at Space Symposium 2023! I discuss the commercialization effort of LEO and the Moon with Angela T. Hart (Manager, Commercial Low Earth Orbit Program Office, NASA), Dr. Molly Mulligan (Business Development, Redwire), Jana Spruce (VP of Spacecraft, Firefly), and Kevin Foley (Program Director, Commercial Space Projects, Boeing). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Bob, Frank, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Harrison, Russell...
May 02, 2023•48 min•Ep. 250
Live from the Redwire booth at Space Symposium 2023! I discuss news, announcements, and happenings from the conference, then talk with a trio of drop-in guests: Sean Bedford (Director of Business Development, Astrobotic), Mike DeRosa (Co-Founder & CMO, Gravitics), and Jason Hopkins (Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Crescent Space). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—SmallSpark Space Systems, Matt, Donald, Jan, Robb, Bob, Kris, ...
Apr 30, 2023•47 min•Ep. 249
Live from the Redwire booth at Space Symposium 2023! I discuss current space policy topics with Lori Garver (former Deputy Administrator of NASA), and Karina Drees (President, Commercial Spaceflight Federation). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Steve, SmallSpark Space Systems, Pat from KC, Matt, Chris, Tyler, Bob, Harrison, Ryan, Frank, Simon, Dawn Aerospace, Benjamin, Lee, Pat, Russell, The Astrogators at SEE, Moritz, Kris, Tim Dodd (the Everyday A...
Apr 28, 2023•46 min•Ep. 248
Live from the Redwire booth at Space Symposium 2023! I talk about the state and future of international partnerships in space with Mike Gold (Chief Growth Officer, Redwire) Masami Onoda (Director of Washington, DC Office, JAXA), and Josh Wolny (Foreign Affairs Officer, US Department of State). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Fred, Joonas, SmallSpark Space Systems, Ryan, Frank, David, Donald, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Matt, Dawn Aerospace, ...
Apr 26, 2023•47 min•Ep. 247
Starship finally(?) flew its first test flight ! Jake Robins of Off-Nominal joins me to sort through our thoughts on how it went ( it was janky ), what’s next for Starship, and to try and figure out if SpaceX wasted more steel or time this week. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Pat from KC, Brad, Theo and Violet, Matt, Fred, Robb, Simon, Dawn Aerospace, SmallSpark Space Systems, Moritz, Donald, Frank, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Kris, ...
Apr 24, 2023•33 min•Ep. 246
After an unsuccessful first flight of Terran 1, Relativity has announced that they’ve moved on to a newly-redesigned Terran R . Overall I think this a good direction, but there are some serious questions to be asked of and headwinds to be managed by Relativity. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Warren, Lars from Agile Space, Donald, Lee, Andrew, Russell, Joel, Ryan, Jan, SmallSpark Space Systems, Bob, Steve, Matt, David, The Astrogators at SEE, Simon...
Apr 17, 2023•23 min•Ep. 245
Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn Aerospace , joins me to talk about their big news announced today : last week, they completed three rocket-powered flights of their Mk-II Aurora spaceplane in 3 consecutive days. We talk about that achievement, what the company is up to overall, what their vision and plans are for the future, and how they’re approaching the market in a unique way. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Benjamin, Ryan, Joel, Jorge, Andrew, Tim Do...
Apr 05, 2023•52 min•Ep. 244
