Main Engine Cut Off

By Anthony Colangelo

Technology Natural Sciences

What's Main Engine Cut Off about?

MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.

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Main Engine Cut Off episodes:

04.18.2024
T+273: Mars Sample Return
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...
04.12.2024
T+272: Moon Rovers, Space Stations, and Starships
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...
03.19.2024
T+271: Checking in on the Chinese Space Industry (with Andrew Jones)
Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—Tiangong, reusable launchers, constellations, and the Moon.
03.14.2024
T+270: K2 Space (with Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO)
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...
03.07.2024
T+269: IM-1 and Beyond (with Tim Crain, Co-Founder and CTO of Intuitive Machines)
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.
03.01.2024
T+268: IM-1, CLPS, NASA Budget (with Eric Berger)
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.
01.26.2024
T+267: Vulcan, New Glenn, Peregrine, Artemis
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...
12.15.2023
T+266: Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman, Privateer
Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman of Privateer, joins me to talk about what they’re working on and what drives them as an organization.
12.01.2023
T+265: Headlines, featuring Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, and Ariane 6
A special (free!) airing of this week’s episode of MECO Headlines. Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, Ariane 6, ISS happenings, launches, and more.
11.13.2023
T+264: ESA’s Interest in Space Stations, Virgin Galactic Bails on VSS Unity
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...
10.31.2023
T+263: Space Policy Roundup (with Marcia Smith)
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.
10.27.2023
T+262: Printing a Meniscus in the BioFabrication Facility (with Dr. Molly Mulligan and Dr. Ken Savin of Redwire)
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...
10.23.2023
T+261: Agile Space (with CEO Chris Pearson and Chief Engineer Lars Osborne)
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.
10.19.2023
T+260: Northrop Grumman Changes Plans, Starlab, Orbital Reef, and Leadership Changes
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.
09.12.2023
T+259: Tom Marotta, The Spaceport Company
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,...
09.08.2023
T+258: The Six, by Loren Grush (Off-Nominal 123 - An Exciting Time)
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.
08.31.2023
T+257: Chandrayaan-3, Luna-25, and the Deep Space Network (with Scott Tilley)
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.
08.25.2023
T+256: The Kuiper Logjam
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....
07.20.2023
T+255: NSSL Phase 3 Addendum
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.
07.18.2023
T+254: Mars Sample Return, Vulcan, NSSL Phase 3 (with Eric Berger)
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.
06.14.2023
T+253: The German and European Launch Industry (with Adrian Beil)
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 Augsburgand Isar Aerospace getting close to the launch pad, many...
05.31.2023
T+252: NASA Selects Blue Moon for a Second Lunar Lander, But is Facing a Grim Budget Reality
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...
05.04.2023
T+251: Finance and Business Strategy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)
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).
05.02.2023
T+250: LEO and Lunar Commercialization (Live from Space Symposium 2023)
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...
04.30.2023
T+249: Space Symposium Round Up Plus Drop-In Guests (Live from Space Symposium 2023)
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...
04.28.2023
T+248: Space Policy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)
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).
04.26.2023
T+247: International Partnerships (Live from Space Symposium 2023)
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...
04.24.2023
T+246: Starship’s First Test Flight (with Jake Robins)
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...
04.17.2023
T+245: Relativity Redesigns, Pivots to Terran R
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...
04.05.2023
T+244: Dawn Aerospace’s Rocket-Powered Mk-II Aurora Takes Flight (with Stefan Powell, CEO)
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...
03.31.2023
T+243: Live Show Announcement! Plus Virgin Orbit Nears the End, While Relativity Flies Terran 1
I share some big news about MECO and Off-Nominal live at Space Symposium 2023, and then dive into some recent launch stories: Relativity’s first flight of Terran 1, and Virgin Orbit nearing its end.
03.16.2023
T+242: NASA’s FY2024 Budget Request (with Casey Dreier)
Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society joins me to talk about the NASA FY2024 budget request and what it means for Artemis, the ISS, and planetary science.
03.06.2023
T+241: ULA on the Market
Eric Berger has three sources saying United Launch Alliance is being shopped around the market right now, so I kick around some thoughts on who may buy ULA, if an offer comes to fruition.
02.28.2023
T+240: NSSL Phase 3, and a New Glenn Check In
The Space Force rolled out the draft RFP for Phase 3 of the National Security Space Launch program, and it looks pretty good! Elsewhere, NASA selected New Glenn to launch ESCAPADE in 2024, so I check in on the state...
02.13.2023
T+239: Space Policy with Lori Garver
Lori Garver, former NASA Deputy Administrator, joins me to talk about a whole host of space policy topics, including Artemis and lunar politics, the legacies of Commercial Cargo and Crew, the status of Commercial LEO Destinations, and also Lance Bass.
01.25.2023
T+238: Rocket Lab Flies from Wallops Island (with Caleb Henry)
Caleb Henry of Quilty Analytics and I took a trip down to Wallops Island to watch Rocket Lab’s first Electron launch from the US. Listen to our conversation on the drive down to Virginia, a bit of me at the...
01.17.2023
T+237: Virgin Orbit and ABL Suffer Failures
Virgin Orbit’s first launch from the UK ended in failure, putting them in an even more precarious financial position. And on the other side of the North Pole, ABL’s first launch attempt ended in failure right on the launch pad...
12.15.2022
T+236: SpaceX Starshield, NSSL Phase 3
SpaceX rolled out Starshield, a new, Starlink-inspired (derived?) offering for national security space systems. And I have some thoughts on the upcoming National Security Space Launch Phase 3 contracting setup.
11.29.2022
T+235: Artemis I, 2022 Midterms (with Casey Dreier)
Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society joins me to talk about Artemis I, where the Artemis program goes from here, and what the 2022 midterm elections mean for space.
10.28.2022
T+234: Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon of Polaris Dawn
The crew of Polaris Dawn—Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon—join me to talk about the mission and its operations, their preparation and training so far, how their roles on past missions play into their role on this one,...
10.25.2022
T+233: Jared Isaacman, Polaris Program
Jared Isaacman of the Polaris Program joins me to talk about how the program began, how it’s envisioned, how they choose what to take on and solve, how they interact with SpaceX, and why he’s chosen to contribute to spaceflight...
10.12.2022
T+232: A Visit to Astrobotic
Last week, I took a visit to Pittsburgh to visit Astrobotic, who is working on a few different landers and rovers destined for the Moon. I got to sit down with several team members for a series of conversations about...
09.30.2022
T+231: The Future of Private Astronaut Missions to the ISS
In the wake of Axiom-1, NASA has revised the requirements for future Private Astronaut Missions. It seems to put pressure on the market to focus on a certain customer base, like research and national astronauts, and it definitely changes the...
09.19.2022
T+230: Bob Pearce, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Bob Pearce, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, joins me to talk about Aeronautics at NASA. We talk about how the directorate fits into the agency overall, how they develop its strategic direction, how they choose which projects...
09.13.2022
T+229: Space Insurance (with Richard Parker and John Farnsworth)
Richard Parker, Head of Space at Canopius, and John Farnsworth, insurance broker and space advocate, join me to talk about the (seemingly) most mysterious topic in spaceflight: insurance!
09.09.2022
T+228: Artemis I, Act I
Artemis I scrubbed its way through its first and second launch attempts, and is now undergoing repairs on the pad, ahead of its next launch attempt. I talk about the initial attempts, general thoughts on where we’re at with this...
08.22.2022
T+227: Astrobee, Free-Flying Robots on the ISS (with Jonathan Barlow)
Jonathan Barlow from the NASA Ames Research Center joins me to talk about Astrobee—the free-flying robots on the International Space Station that test new technologies, sensors, and operations, and assist astronauts and mission controllers alike. Jonathan is the Astrobee Lead...
08.18.2022
T+226: Northrop Grumman and Firefly Partner on Antares
Northrop Grumman and Firefly announced a partnership to develop a new first stage for Antares—the same first stage that will power Firefly’s larger launch vehicle, Beta. It’s a great partnership for both parties that will surely lead to more interesting...
08.16.2022
T+225: Astrogation with Space Exploration Engineering
Mike Loucks and John Carrico of Space Exploration Engineering join me to talk about astrogation, mission planning, missions they’ve worked on, how they interact with teams of all types, and everything else they do at SEE.
08.12.2022
T+224: Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Space Station, with Rick Mastracchio (Director Of Business Development)
Rick Mastracchio, former NASA astronaut and current Director Of Business Development at Northrop Grumman Space Systems, joins me to talk about Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Space Station concept that they are working on as part of NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations program.

What's Main Engine Cut Off about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Main Engine Cut Off episodes:

T+273: Mars Sample Return

T+272: Moon Rovers, Space Stations, and Starships

T+271: Checking in on the Chinese Space Industry (with Andrew Jones)

T+270: K2 Space (with Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO)

T+269: IM-1 and Beyond (with Tim Crain, Co-Founder and CTO of Intuitive Machines)

T+268: IM-1, CLPS, NASA Budget (with Eric Berger)

T+267: Vulcan, New Glenn, Peregrine, Artemis

T+266: Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman, Privateer

T+265: Headlines, featuring Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, and Ariane 6

T+264: ESA’s Interest in Space Stations, Virgin Galactic Bails on VSS Unity

T+263: Space Policy Roundup (with Marcia Smith)

T+262: Printing a Meniscus in the BioFabrication Facility (with Dr. Molly Mulligan and Dr. Ken Savin of Redwire)

T+261: Agile Space (with CEO Chris Pearson and Chief Engineer Lars Osborne)

T+260: Northrop Grumman Changes Plans, Starlab, Orbital Reef, and Leadership Changes

T+259: Tom Marotta, The Spaceport Company

T+258: The Six, by Loren Grush (Off-Nominal 123 - An Exciting Time)

T+257: Chandrayaan-3, Luna-25, and the Deep Space Network (with Scott Tilley)

T+256: The Kuiper Logjam

T+255: NSSL Phase 3 Addendum

T+254: Mars Sample Return, Vulcan, NSSL Phase 3 (with Eric Berger)

T+253: The German and European Launch Industry (with Adrian Beil)

T+252: NASA Selects Blue Moon for a Second Lunar Lander, But is Facing a Grim Budget Reality

T+251: Finance and Business Strategy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

T+250: LEO and Lunar Commercialization (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

T+249: Space Symposium Round Up Plus Drop-In Guests (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

T+248: Space Policy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

T+247: International Partnerships (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

T+246: Starship’s First Test Flight (with Jake Robins)

T+245: Relativity Redesigns, Pivots to Terran R

T+244: Dawn Aerospace’s Rocket-Powered Mk-II Aurora Takes Flight (with Stefan Powell, CEO)

T+243: Live Show Announcement! Plus Virgin Orbit Nears the End, While Relativity Flies Terran 1

T+242: NASA’s FY2024 Budget Request (with Casey Dreier)

T+241: ULA on the Market

T+240: NSSL Phase 3, and a New Glenn Check In

T+239: Space Policy with Lori Garver

T+238: Rocket Lab Flies from Wallops Island (with Caleb Henry)

T+237: Virgin Orbit and ABL Suffer Failures

T+236: SpaceX Starshield, NSSL Phase 3

T+235: Artemis I, 2022 Midterms (with Casey Dreier)

T+234: Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon of Polaris Dawn

T+233: Jared Isaacman, Polaris Program

T+232: A Visit to Astrobotic

T+231: The Future of Private Astronaut Missions to the ISS

T+230: Bob Pearce, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

T+229: Space Insurance (with Richard Parker and John Farnsworth)

T+228: Artemis I, Act I

T+227: Astrobee, Free-Flying Robots on the ISS (with Jonathan Barlow)

T+226: Northrop Grumman and Firefly Partner on Antares

T+225: Astrogation with Space Exploration Engineering

T+224: Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Space Station, with Rick Mastracchio (Director Of Business Development)