Main Engine Cut Off

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 Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, and seven anonymous—and 483 other supporters.TopicsRelativity's reusable Terran rocket competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9Relativity Space on Twitter: “We've officially completed and buckle-tested the Stage 1 Iron Bird tank demonstrator model! Check out these shots of the tank moving outdoors, going fully vertically and being installed into our LA1 Structures Test Stand.”Neutron | Rocket LabIntroducing Neutron - YouTube2020 NASA Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO)

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, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, the Astrogators at SEE, and seven anonymous—and 471 other supporters.TopicsGwynne Shotwell talks about selling flight-proven rockets, Starship | Ars TechnicaSpaceX fires 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, with more set to launch Friday – Spaceflight NowLockheed Martin selects ABL Space Systems for UK launch - SpaceNewsEpisode T+169: Commercial Small Launcher Updates - Main Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off on Twitter

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, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, Space Exploration Engineering, and seven anonymous—and 473 other supporters.TopicsChristian Davenport (@wapodavenport) / TwitterChristian Davenport - The Washington PostThe Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos - Bookshop.orgThe Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos - AmazonOfficials had doubts about likely success of NASA SLS test, briefing notes show - The

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, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, and seven anonymous—and 466 other supporters.TopicsMeagan Crawford (@MeaganMCrawford) / TwitterSpaceFund Venture Capital - Funding the Future | SpaceFund‎Mission Eve on Apple PodcastsMission Eve | Podcast on SpotifySpaceX raises $1.9 billion in equity - SpaceNewsRelativity Space raises $500 million - SpaceNewsOneWeb raises $400 million - SpaceNewsRemote sensin

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 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 Space, Tommy, Matt, and seven anonymous—and 460 other supporters.TopicsAndrew Jones (@AJ_FI) / TwitterAndrew Jones, SpaceNewsAndrew Jones, Space.comAndrew Jones, The Planetary SocietyChang’e-5 spacecraft prepare for historic lunar orbit rendezvous, sample relay - SpaceNewsChina recovers Chang’e-

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!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and six anonymous—and 447 other supporters.TopicsNASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 Contract | NASANASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Contracts | NASAAstra, Relativity, and Firefly Win NASA Venture Class Launch Services Contracts - Main Engine Cut OffVirgin Orbit on Twitter: “Our vehicles, hardware, and software are all ready to go. With two rehearsals already complete, one final wet dress rehearsal is all that remains for us to do. However, the Co

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 Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 438 other supporters.TopicsOn the Spectacular Flight of Starship SN8 and the Future of Starship Development - Main Engine Cut OffStarship | SN8 | High-Altitude Flight Test - YouTubeSpaceX on Twitter: “Starship landing flip maneuver”September 2019 Starship Update - YouTubeU.S. Transportation Command to study use of SpaceX rockets to move cargo around the world - SpaceNewsEpisode T+149: Let’s Talk About Starship with Tim Dodd, the Everyday As

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, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 434 other supporters.TopicsComponent failure in NASA’s deep-space crew capsule could take months to fix - The VergeUpdate on Orion Final Assembly and Transfer – ArtemisNew Artemis 1 schedule uncertainty as NASA EGS ready to continue SLS Booster stacking - NASASpaceFlight.comNASA ‘Go’ for Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal – ArtemisAriane 6 Slips to 2022, Needs Another €230 Million - Main Engine Cut OffESA requests €

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!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 430 other supporters.TopicsCREW-1 MISSION - SpaceX - UpdatesNASA's SpaceX Crew-1 Mission | NASACrew-1 Mission | Launch - YouTubeCrew-1 Mission | Rendezvous and Docking - YouTubeNASA safety panel raises doubts about Starliner test flight schedule - SpaceNewsAxiom Space finalizing first commercial ISS mission - SpaceNewsNext-Generation Airlock Prepped for SpaceX CRS-21 Launch – Kennedy Space CenterFirst Dream Chaser mission slips to 2022 - SpaceNewsThe Sh

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, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 421 other supporters.TopicsU.S. Department of Defense > Contract (SpaceX NSSL fleet surveillance)Airbus, Raytheon protest Space Development Agency satellite contract awards - SpaceNewsBlue Canyon Technologies - Small Satellite Leader Blue Canyon Technologies To Be Acquired By Raytheon TechnologiesNew Propulsive Sherpa OTVs Co

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, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 414 other supporters.TopicsRogozin Wants ISS Extension, Gateway Too U.S.-Centric - SpacePolicyOnline.comShared Standards are a Vital Part of Future Space Exploration - Administrator Jim BridenstineNASA Artemis AccordsEpisode T+158: Doug Loverro Resigns, and a Bit About the Artemis Accords - Main Engine Cut OffNASA, In

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, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 402 other supporters.TopicsL3Harris, SpaceX win Space Development Agency contracts to build missile-warning satellites - SpaceNewsSDA Awards Contracts for the First Generation of the Tracking Layer – Space Development AgencySDA RFP Seeks Industry Proposals for Launch Services – Space Development AgencySDA Tranche 0 Launch Services - beta.SAM.govLockheed Martin, York Space to prod

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 and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 402 other supporters.TopicsMy son has arrived! Signing off for a few weeks. - Main Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off on Twitter: “It’s Space Shirt Friday over in the @offnom Discord and I’m guessing @JimBridenstine will appreciate Will’s first participation in it.”Discovery of noxious gas on Venus could be a sign of life - The VergeWhat the future of Venus exploration could look like following major discovery - The VergeVenus is One Stop in Our Search for Lif

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, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 399 other supporters.TopicsRocket Lab Increases Electron Payload Capacity, Enabling Interplanetary Missions and Reusability | Rocket LabABL Space Systems begins RS1 stage testing and reaches $90mm in fundingSmall launch startup ABL secures over $90 million in new funding and Air Force contra

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, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 398 other supporters.TopicsU.S. Department Of Defense > Contracts For Aug. 7, 2020Pentagon picks SpaceX and ULA to remain its primary launch providers - SpaceNewsAir Force to end agreements with Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, prepares for launch contract protests - Spac

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, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 398 other supporters.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeOff-Nominal32 - Well Within the Kill Zone | Off-NominalEpisode 32 - Well Within the Kill Zone (with Richard Garriott) - YouTubePhillip H (@FlightMastrPhil) / TwitterLaunching Rockets | NASAPhillip H on Twitter: “LOL you can see me and @MicWoltman walking across the street i

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 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, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 397 other supporters.TopicsAstroboticCareers | AstroboticPeregrine Lander | AstroboticGriffin Lander | AstroboticAstrobotic Awarded $79.5 Million Contract to Deliver 14 NASA Payloads to the Moon | AstroboticAstrobotic Award

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, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 397 other supporters.TopicsCaleb Henry, SpaceNewsCaleb Henry (@CHenry_SN) / TwitterBritish government and Bharti Global buy OneWeb, plan $1 billion investment to revive company - SpaceNewsBritish military finalizes Skynet-6A contract with Airbus - SpaceNewsWyler claims breakthrough in low-cost antenna for OneWeb, other satellite systems - SpaceNewsNew details and images emerge of SpaceX’s Starlink user antennas a

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 time to circle back on that.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, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 392 other supporters.TopicsRogozin Not Interested in Cooperating with U.S. on Lunar Program, Prefers China – SpacePolicyOnline.comSpa

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, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and seven anonymous—and 385 other supporters.TopicsNASA Developing a Plan to Fly Personnel on Suborbital Spacecraft | NASAVirgin Galactic to fly Italian Air Force research mission - SpaceNews.comVirgin Galactic Signs Space Act Agreement with NASA for Private Orbital Spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) - Virgin GalacticThe ShowLike the show? Support the show!Email your thoughts,