Main Engine Cut Off

NASA laid out its plans for Artemis III and IV, including dramatically different paths to the Moon for Blue Moon and Starship. I dig into the complexity and sustainability of both architectures, the ever-changing role of SLS, and then into the big feelings around SpaceX’s future—with or without the industry.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Josh from Impulse, Joonas, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Kris, Jan, Theo and Violet, Heiko, Fred, Matt, Donald, Will and Lars from Agile, Stealth Julian, David, Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Steve, Warren, Russell, Pat, Natasha Tsakos, Ryan, Matt from Built, Lee, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• NASA’s Artemis III Mission to Test Future Moon Lander Operations - NASA
• NASA, Partners Accelerate Lander Development for 2028 Moon Missions - NASA
• SpaceX no longer needs NASA, and that's a problem for America's space agency - Ars Technica

The Show

• Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
• Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
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• Artwork photo by SpaceX
• Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me (in studio!) to talk about the growing launch shortage, which new rockets are best positioned to fill the gap, and how SpaceX is separating itself from the launch market as the rest of the industry finds a path forward without them.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joel, Fred, Josh from Impulse, Jan, Kris, Ryan, Matt from Built, Natasha Tsakos, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile, Stealth Julian, Matt, Heiko, Miles O’Brien, Pat, Steve, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Russell, The Astrogators at SEE, David, Donald, Joonas, Lee, Joakim, Frank, Theo and Violet, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Caleb Henry (@ChenrySpace) / X
• The OneWeb Book | Caleb Henry | Substack
• Quilty Space
• Space Force scrambles as Musk’s SpaceX retires its major rocket - POLITICO
• Neutron's first launch slips again amid trouble with carbon composites - Ars Technica
• SpaceX no longer needs NASA, and that's a problem for America's space agency - Ars Technica
• SpaceX to attempt Starship catch on next flight, with eye on rapid cadence increase - Ars Technica
• Does anyone actually want to win the medium-lift race in the United States? - Ars Technica
• Blue Origin is going all in on the New Glenn rocket - Ars Technica
• Amazon builds 1,000th satellite, will launch space internet service by end of year - Ars Technica

The Show

• Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
• Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
• Follow @WeHaveMECO
• Follow @[email protected] on Mastodon
• Listen to MECO Headlines
• Listen to Off-Nominal
• Join the Off-Nominal Discord
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere
• Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
• Artwork photo by SpaceX
• Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

NASA and Boeing laid out Starliner’s return-to-flight plan as SpaceX prepares to leave Dragon behind. I talk through the weak demand signal for crewed flight in LEO, how NASA’s commitment to the ISS and commercial stations boxed themselves into this decision, and what to do between here and the Moon.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Theo and Violet, Miles O’Brien, Joakim, Steve, Warren, Joel, Frank, Joonas, Natasha Tsakos, Will and Lars from Agile, David, Matt, Jan, Matt from Built, Lee, Josh from Impulse, Russell, Heiko, Kris, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Ryan, The Astrogators at SEE, Donald, Fred, Pat, Stealth Julian, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Boeing "incredibly excited" to serve as nation's only astronaut transportation - Ars Technica
• After being sidelined, Boeing's Starliner to get starring role in NASA's spaceflight plans - Ars Technica
• Congress extends ISS and tells NASA to get moving on private space stations - Ars Technica
• NASA chief concerned China may deny access to parts of Moon's south pole - Ars Technica
• SpaceX's Starship goes orbital, deploying first next-gen Starlinks - Ars Technica
• Vast Establishes Lunar Programs Division, Applying Haven Flight Heritage to Power, Communications, and Habitats on the Moon — an update by VAST

The Show

• Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
• Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
• Follow @WeHaveMECO
• Follow @[email protected] on Mastodon
• Listen to MECO Headlines
• Listen to Off-Nominal
• Join the Off-Nominal Discord
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere
• Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
• Artwork photo by Zhou Quan
• Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

SpaceX officially announced Starbase Louisiana, and I break down why the site fits Starship’s launch, landing, and orbital architecture so perfectly. I also look at the transition from Falcon to Starship, and the new launch vehicles on the verge of debut.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Warren, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Donald, David, Matt, Joonas, Russell, Steve, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, The Astrogators at SEE, Josh from Impulse, Fred, Joel, Kris, Pat, Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Stealth Julian, Jan, Ryan, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—the landings of Zhuque-3 and Long March 10B first stages, Chang’e-7 and its delay, and more.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Joakim, Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joonas, Josh from Impulse, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Miles O’Brien, Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Warren, Russell, Stealth Julian, Kris, The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Joel, Donald, Pat, David, Jan, Matt, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

Justin Fiaschetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Inversion Space, joins me to talk about the company’s plan to store maneuverable reentry vehicles in orbit for rapid cargo delivery, the design and architecture decisions driving Arc including cross-range requirements and payload accomodations, and how they see the market for these services.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Russell, Fred, Natasha Tsakos, Matt, Joonas, Matt from Built, Josh from Impulse, Pat, Steve, David, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joel, Stealth Julian, Ryan, Theo and Violet, Kris, The Astrogators at SEE, Miles O’Brien, Jan, Donald, Joakim, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, Warren, Lee, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

Rocket Lab is buying Iridium for $8 billion, Blue Origin has a new plan to get New Glenn flying again without rebuilding the same pad architecture, and NASA just awarded four new CLPS missions.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Warren, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Donald, David, Matt, Joonas, Russell, Steve, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, The Astrogators at SEE, Josh from Impulse, Fred, Joel, Kris, Pat, Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Stealth Julian, Jan, Ryan, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

Founder and CEO of Auriga Space, Winnie Lai, joins me to talk about their electromagnetic launch infrastructure and the path she sees for Auriga across space and defense markets. And yes, we talk about whether this kind of alternative launch architecture is a good fit for Earth, or a better fit for pretty much every other rock in the solar system.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Ryan, Matt from Built, Russell, Joel, David, Kris, Joakim, Fred, Pat, Matt, Theo and Violet, Natasha Tsakos, Donald, Warren, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Frank, Jan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Josh from Impulse, Stealth Julian, Lee, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

I often talk about SpaceX being an extreme outlier in the industry and how many organizations have tried to replicate their approach, but very few (if any) have been successful. Matt Gjertsen of Built  joins me to share a take on what exactly it is internally that drives their results, how to apply it in other organizations, and to share some perspective on his time at SpaceX leading Training and Development, and from elsewhere in the industry.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Ryan, Matt from Built, Russell, Joel, David, Kris, Joakim, Fred, Pat, Matt, Theo and Violet, Natasha Tsakos, Donald, Warren, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Frank, Jan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Josh from Impulse, Stealth Julian, Lee, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show

Blue Origin’s New Glenn blew up on LC-36 last night during a static fire test, Starship flew its 12th flight, and NASA had a series of updates on its Moon Base program, including LTV awards, launch and landing contracts, and a somewhat unexplained branding exercise.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Kris, David, Miles O’Brien, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Jan, Donald, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, The Astrogators at SEE, Ryan, Matt, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile, Pat, Fred, Joonas, Theo and Violet, Russell, Joel, Natasha Tsakos, Joakim, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

The Show