Simone D’Amico of Stanford and EraDrive, DJ Bush of NVIDIA, and Al Tadros of Redwire join me to talk about autonomy in space, to get into the specific details of what they’re working on and how it comes together, and what it may do for the industry in the next few years.

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

Topics

• Episode T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros) - YouTube
• Simone D'Amico | LinkedIn
• Center for AEroSpace Autonomy Research (CAESAR)
• Stanford spinoff EraDrive claims $1 million NASA contract - SpaceNews
• DJ Bush | LinkedIn
• How Starcloud Is Bringing Data Centers to Outer Space | NVIDIA Blog
• Al Tadros | LinkedIn
• Redwire Space | Heritage + Innovation
• NASA Starling - Autonomous Tip and Cue in Orbit
• NASA Starling - Distributed Optical Navigation
• NASA Starling - Autonomous Space Domain Awareness
• VISORS - Precise Formation-Flying
• Autonomous Spacecraft 3D Model Reconstruction

The Show

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Thinking through the chaos that has ensued over the NASA Administrator role, the Artemis 3 lander acceleration movement, the SpaceX Starship HLS update, and a bit on how we actually got here.

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

Topics

• SpaceX - Updates
• SpaceX teases simplified Starship as alarms sound over Moon landing delays - Ars Technica
• Why did NASA’s chief just shake up the agency’s plans to land on the Moon? - Ars Technica
• Elon Musk just declared war on NASA’s acting administrator, apparently - Ars Technica
• How America fell behind China in the lunar space race—and how it can catch back up - Ars Technica
• China completes landing and takeoff test for crewed moon lander - SpaceNews
• China completes second hot-fire test for new moon rocket, including engine restarts - SpaceNews
• Trump pulls Isaacman nomination for space. Source: “NASA is f***ed.” - Ars Technica

The Show

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Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me (in studio!) to talk about Starlink V3, Starlink satellite relay, Kuiper’s rollout, the Airbus-Thales-Leonardo merger, and the future of Iridium.

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

Topics

• Caleb Henry (@ChenrySpace) / X
• The OneWeb Book | Caleb Henry | Substack
• Quilty Space
• Satellite operators will soon join airlines in using Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi - Ars Technica
• Starlink mini lasers to link Muon Space satellites for near real-time connectivity - SpaceNews
• Project Kuiper plots broadband services in five countries by end of March - SpaceNews
• Airbus, Leonardo and Thales agree to combine space businesses - SpaceNews
• Project Bromo: An Escape Hatch, Not a Fortress
• Iridium pulls $1 billion 2030 service revenue goal amid SpaceX’s D2D push - SpaceNews

The Show

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Miles O’Brien, science correspondent for PBS News and CNN space analyst, joins me to talk about Starship Flight 11, the current space policy landscape including the ongoing government shutdown, the possible return of Jared Isaacman, and what to do about all the competing budget priorities at NASA.

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

Topics

• Miles O'Brien Productions - Miles O'Brien
• Miles Ahead | Miles O'Brien | Substack
• SpaceX finally got exactly what it needed from Starship V2 - Ars Technica
• More layoffs at JPL - SpaceNews
• Trump, Billionaire Isaacman Said to Meet About Top NASA Job - Bloomberg
• Former NASA nominee Jared Isaacman in talks to become agency's chief | Reuters

The Show

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Phil McAlister, former Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division, joins me to talk about the Commercial LEO Destinations program, the budgetary issues facing NASA and its human spaceflight programs, and to share his perspective on the last (and next) few years in these areas.

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

Topics

• Phil McAlister | LinkedIn
• The Dreaded Gap | LinkedIn
• You Can’t Reach the Stars While Chained to Low-Earth Orbit | LinkedIn
• No Changes Allowed | LinkedIn
• Vast backs new NASA commercial space station strategy - SpaceNews
• T+205: Phil McAlister, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA - Main Engine Cut Off

The Show

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NASA selected Blue Origin to (maybe) deliver the once-cancelled VIPER rover, modified Sierra Space’s ISS resupply contract which likely puts the nail in the coffin of Dream Chaser, and released the draft of its new commercial space station strategy. All different stories with one message: prove it. But maybe not in a good way.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Jan, Kris, Lee, Will and Lars from Agile, Theo and Violet, Better Every Day Studios, Josh from Impulse, Joakim, Bob, Donald, Creative Taxi, Frank, Pat, Joonas, Fred, Heiko, Warren, Matt, Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), David, Ryan, Russell, Stealth Julian, Steve, Natasha Tsakos, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• NASA Selects Blue Origin to Deliver VIPER Rover to Moon’s South Pole - NASA
• VIPER Might Have A New Ride to the Moon on Blue Origin – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Blue Origin only bidder for new VIPER lander award - SpaceNews
• NASA, Sierra Space Modify Commercial Resupply Services Contract - NASA
• Sierra’s Dream Chaser is starting to resemble a nightmare - Ars Technica
• NASA releases details on revised next phase of commercial space station development - SpaceNews
• Vast backs new NASA commercial space station strategy - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Artwork photo by NASA
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Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me to talk about EchoStar’s spectrum sales and constellation cancellation, SpaceX’s spectrum purchase, and the financials of Starlink.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Bob, Heiko, Creative Taxi, Josh from Impulse, Russell, Donald, Will and Lars from Agile, Matt, Steve, Lee, Joel, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Natasha Tsakos (pronounced Tszakos), The Astrogators at SEE, Better Every Day Studios, Ryan, Kris, Pat, Joakim (Jo-Kim), Stealth Julian, Warren, Theo and Violet, Jan, Joonas, Fred, David, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Quilty Space (@QuiltySpace) / X
• Starlink Financial & Strategic Analysis 2025 1H | Quilty Space
• Sign Up Form | Quilty Space
• EchoStar sells spectrum to SpaceX, cancels MDA satellite contract - SpaceNews
• EchoStar’s $23 billion spectrum sale clears path for direct-to-device constellation - SpaceNews
• EchoStar orders initial MDA satellites for $5 billion LEO constellation - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Artwork photo by CMSEO
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Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries, joins me to talk about the state of NASA in 2025, talent acquisition and retention, productivity, and so much more.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Kris, Joakim (Jo-Kim), Creative Taxi, Heiko, Joel, Frank, Josh from Impulse, The Astrogators at SEE, David, Jan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Theo and Violet, Joonas, Stealth Julian, Donald, Warren, Matt, Pat, Steve, Fred, Bob, Lee, Natasha Tsakos (pronounced Tszakos), Will and Lars from Agile, Russell, Better Every Day Studios, Ryan, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Casey Handmer (@CJHandmer) / X
• Casey Handmer
• Terraform Industries
• NASA Is Worth Saving – Casey Handmer's blog
• Episode 170 - Luckily, We Did All the Math (with Casey Handmer) - Off-Nominal
• The science behind clean hydrocarbons | The Freethink Interview - YouTube

The Show

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• Artwork photo by NASA
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Tom Marotta of The Spaceport Company joins me to talk about the executive order this week focused on commercial space regulatory reform, what problems it seeks to solve, his experience on both sides of those issues, and how we should understand the positioning of the order.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Frank, David, Jan, Josh from Impulse, Steve, Ryan, Joakim (Jo-Kim), Lee, Creative Taxi, Theo and Violet, Fred, Pat, Donald, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, Bob, The Astrogators at SEE, Russell, Joel, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Matt, Natasha Tsakos (pronounced Tszakos), Kris, Warren, Heiko, Will and Lars from Agile, Joonas, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Tom Marotta | LinkedIn
• The Spaceport Company
• Previous appearance: T+259: Tom Marotta, The Spaceport Company - Main Engine Cut Off
• Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry – The White House
• Trump Issues Executive Order on Commercial Space – SpacePolicyOnline.com

The Show

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Michael Moreno, VP of Strategy at Lunar Outpost, joins me to talk about what they’ve been up to at the company, the NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract, the idea of services as a business on the Moon, and more.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Lee, Russell, Fred, The Astrogators at SEE, David, Matt, Theo and Violet, Warren, Josh from Impulse, Frank, Pat from KC, Steve, Pat, Creative Taxi, Jan, Stealth Julian, Better Every Day Studios, Kris, Heiko, Donald, Natasha Tsakos (pronounced Tszakos), Joel, Joakim (Jo-Kim), Will and Lars from Agile, Harrison, Joonas, Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Bob, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

Topics

• Home | Lunar Outpost
• Lunar Voyage 1 Update 
• Lunar Outpost Becomes First Company to Receive Payment for Space Resources
• NASA selects three companies to advance Artemis lunar rover designs - SpaceNews
• Lunar Dawn Team Awarded NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle Contract
• Lunar Outpost Signs with SpaceX for Starship Moon Mission

The Show

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