Main Engine Cut Off

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—Brando...

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...

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, Don...

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 M...

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, Bra...

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 ex...

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—Brando...

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 b...

A flurry of Commercial Crew news hit last week: new crew members were announced for SpaceX Crew-1, Jim Bridenstine shed some light on the DM-2 schedule , and Boeing will refly the Starliner uncrewed test flight . I break down each of those and talk through why those stories are more connected than was hinted at by NASA and others. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executi...

NASA selected SpaceX and their new Dragon XL vehicle as the first Gateway Logistics Services provider. I take some time to think through why SpaceX is interested in this program, what they might want to get out of it, and what we could see Dragon XL doing in the future. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, R...

After a tumultuous past few years , DARPA has selected a new partner for RSGS . It is none other than Northrop Grumman, who has found early success with their satellite servicing ventures . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel,...

SpaceX recently signed two agreements: one with Axiom Space to fly a private mission up to the ISS, and one with Space Adventures for a free-flying tourist flight up to 1,000 kilometers. I discuss these two missions and why agreements like this are key to SpaceX’s long-term strategy. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt,...

Tim Dodd , the Everyday Astronaut , joins me to talk all about SpaceX’s Starship , its history thus far , it’s nearly-impossible-to-keep-up-with development in the open , and what we may see in the coming months. We make some timeline predictions, talk about the predicament of Boca Chica, and both randomly stumble into completely unsupported theories. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought...

Long-time head of human spaceflight at NASA, Bill Gerstenmaier, has joined SpaceX as a consultant , but everyone is excited for the wrong reasons . And SpaceX missed a booster landing on their most recent Starlink launch , which prompted a new round of debates over whether booster recovery is part of mission success or not. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive prod...

Mike Suffredini , President and CEO of Axiom , joins me to talk about their recent announcement: Axiom has been selected by NASA for access to an ISS port. They will build out Axiom Station as an expansion of the ISS, and eventually operate it as a free-flying space station. Before Axiom, Mike was NASA’s ISS Program Manager for a decade. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37...

Loren Grush of The Verge joins me to talk about a whole host of current topics—SpaceX’s in-flight abort test , Starliner’s shaky first test and its fallout, space traffic , Starlink , the NASA Authorization bill , and why ”Space is hard” is the worst mantra . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, D...

Caleb Henry of SpaceNews joins me to talk about the recent happenings in the satellite industry, including new ITU milestones for megaconstellations , SpaceX’s big year for Starlink , OneWeb’s progress, and DirecTV’s battery issue . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren,...

A look back at 2019 through the lens of “Who actually did something that matters this year?” This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from A...

Starliner’s flight test did not go as planned , and the US 2020 budget was passed, which creates Space Force and has big implications for NASA’s work . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim...

Last week, I took a ride out to the AGI offices and sat down with Josh Poley and T.S. Kelso . We shot a handful of videos for AGI’s YouTube channel , the longest of which was this interview right here . I talked with T.S. Kelso about the history of CelesTrak.com and satellite tracking on the internet as a whole, as well as a few topics relevant to the modern day: satellite tracking and orbit repor...

Dylan Taylor , Chairman and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings , joins me to talk about the new company, how it fits into the industry, his vision for space, and their first acquisition (and past MECO guest! ), Altius Space Machines . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell...

Blue Origin successfully protested the US Air Force’s RFP for the National Security Space Launch program, which will have big implications for the way the current round of contract awards plays out. NASA added five new providers to the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, and I’ve got some thoughts about the inclusion of those options in what is quickly beco...

Richard Duke from the Surrey Space Center joins me to talk about their RemoveDEBRIS mission, which launched last year and carried out 4 different tests focused on space debris removal and management. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Dav...

Peter Beck , Founder, CEO, and CTO of Rocket Lab , joins me to talk about what they’ve been up to with Electron and Photon , as well as some of their new offerings like ground station support through KSAT and Photon missions to the Moon . This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob...

Artemis and international politics were on display on the first day of IAC 2019, followed by strange-yet-politically-minded partnerships on the second day. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb,...