Main Engine Cut Off

The White House has finally submitted its fiscal year 2023 budget request, which has big implications for NASA’s Commercial LEO program, and their newest announcement, the upcoming Sustaining Lunar Development contract to support the Artemis program’s lunar landings through the 2020s.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, Andrew, and seven anonymous—and 748 other supporters.

Topics

• NASA Provides Update to Astronaut Moon Lander Plans Under Artemis | NASA
• NASA Lays Out Revised Approach for Future Human Lunar Landing Systems – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• NASA to support development of second Artemis lunar lander - SpaceNews
• Budget Documents, Strategic Plans and Performance Reports | NASA
• Previous Years' Budget Requests | NASA
• NASA Administrator Statement on President’s FY 2023 Budget Request | NASA
• NASA Asking for Another Steep Increase in FY2023 – SpacePolicyOnline.com

The Show

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A follow-up on my last show with Debra Werner about the war in Ukraine and all the fallout from it, both political and industrial. Everything from the NASA budgets for 2022 and 2023, NASA telling astronauts to stop tweeting, the increased importance of European human spaceflight, and how the launch industry might shift in the future.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, Andrew, and seven anonymous—and 738 other supporters.

Topics

• T+210: Ukraine, Russia, and the Space Industry (with Debra Werner) - Main Engine Cut Off
• NASA To Get $24 Billion for FY2022, More than Last Year But Less Than Biden Wanted – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Scott Kelly: Former NASA astronaut to back off Twitter war with head of Russian space agency - CNN
• ESA - Luca Parmitano presents the European Astronauts’ Manifesto
• ESA - ExoMars suspended

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA Wallops/Patrick Black

Debra Werner of SpaceNews joins me to talk about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the ways that it is affecting the space industry, how their last invasion had similar effects, and how the situation solidifies several arguments that have been made over the past decade or more.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, Andrew, and seven anonymous—and 730 other supporters.

Topics

• Debra Werner, Author at SpaceNews
• Debra Werner (@spacereportr) / Twitter
• Previous invasion of Ukraine had serious repercussions for the space sector - SpaceNews
• EOS Data Analytics issues urgent plea for imagery of Ukraine - SpaceNews
• Russian military convoy north of Kyiv stretches for 40 miles -Maxar | Reuters
• Small satellite constellations promise resilient communications and Earth observation - SpaceNews
• Statement on the status of the eROSITA instrument aboard Spektr-RG (SRG) | Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics
• Russia says it will no longer sell rocket engines to the United States - The Verge
• OneWeb leaves Baikonur Cosmodrome after Roscosmos ultimatum - SpaceNews
• Ukraine engineer talks testing SpaceX’s new Starlink service - The Verge

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA Wallops/Patrick Black

A special feature of a very-MECO episode of my other podcast, Off-Nominal, that I did this week with Michael Sheetz of CNBC and Eric Berger of Ars Technica. If you have yet to check out Off-Nominal, find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, Andrew, and seven anonymous—and 749 other supporters.

Topics

• Off-Nominal
• Episode 50 - Was That a Bake Sale? - Off-Nominal (Show notes)
• Episode 50 - Was That a Bake Sale? (with Michael Sheetz and Eric Berger) - YouTube
• Off-Nominal - YouTube
• Subscribe to the show! - Off-Nominal

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by ULA

Jared Isaacman, commander of Inspiration4, announced the Polaris Program—a privately-funded development program to “rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities” via flights on SpaceX’s Dragon and Starship vehicles. It begins with a mission to the highest Earth orbit ever flown by humans, featuring the first commercial spacewalk, and culminates with the first crewed Starship flight.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, Andrew, and seven anonymous—and 738 other supporters.

Topics

• Polaris Program
• Inspiration4 - Home
• Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) / Twitter
• Starship Update - YouTube

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by ULA

Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about what’s on our radar in 2022, to predict when the big new rockets will fly, and to generally catch up on what’s going on in the space industry.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, and seven anonymous—and 741 other supporters.

Topics

• Eric Berger
• Eric Berger | Ars Technica
• Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
• Rocket Report: SpaceX lands rocket cargo funding, Virgin Galactic’s stock crash | Ars Technica
• This may finally be the year we see some new chunky rockets take flight | Ars Technica
• Firefly Owner Max Polyakov to Sell Stake in Rocket Startup - Bloomberg
• T+195: Blue Origin’s Project Jarvis, Suborbital Flights, and Nauka Fallout (with Eric Berger) - Main Engine Cut Off

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by ESA

Last week I left my full-time gig at Big Cartel. I’m going independent to do more Main Engine Cut Off and Off-Nominal, and to make these space-focused projects the primary work that I do. I’m also going to be building some apps of my own, and doing a good bit of client work—which could include you! If you’ve got an app or a site or really anything digital to build, hit me up and let’s work together.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, and seven anonymous—and 718 other supporters.

Topics

• Going Independent - Anthony Colangelo
• Home - Off-Nominal
• Off-Nominal - YouTube
• Off-Nominal Happy Hour - Dec 16, 2021 - YouTube

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

Phil McAlister, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA, joins me to talk about the history of and lessons learned from the Commercial Cargo and Crew programs, what things went well and not so well in those programs, the difficulty of changing NASA’s approach to human spaceflight, how to deal with varying levels of Congressional funding and buy-in, and how all of that feeds into the new Commercial LEO Destinations program.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, and seven anonymous—and 716 other supporters.

Topics

• Philip McAlister, HEO Director of Commercial Spaceflight Division | NASA
• NASA Releases COTS Final Report | NASA
• International Space Station Commercial Resupply Launch | NASA
• Commercial Crew Program | NASA
• Low-Earth Orbit Economy | NASA
• NASA Selects Companies to Develop Commercial Destinations in Space | NASA
• NASA Developing a Plan to Fly Personnel on Suborbital Spacecraft | NASA
• Happy Hour - Off-Nominal
• Off-Nominal Happy Hour - Dec 16, 2021 - YouTube
• Main Engine Cut Off on Twitter: “If you haven’t yet caught Happy Hour, you should check it out! I shared some big news: Next week is my last week at my full-time job! I’m going independent so I can do more MECO, more @offnom, and hopefully some new projects too! Thank you all so much for being part of this. ❤️”

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

Bill Spetch, Manager of the ISS Vehicle Office at NASA, joins me to discuss the operational considerations of docking and berthing ports on the International Space Station, the recent traffic jams we’ve seen on station, why certain vehicles and systems use one port over the other, how to fit large cargo through docking ports, and what the future of ISS port operations look like in the era of commercial space station expansion.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, and seven anonymous—and 712 other supporters.

Topics

• NASA OIG, AUDIT OF COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY SERVICES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, April 26, 2018
• It now seems likely that Starliner will not launch crew until early 2022 | Ars Technica
• SpaceX crew capsule relocated outside space station before Boeing mission – Spaceflight Now

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

Marshall Smith, Senior Vice President of Space Systems of Nanoracks, joins me to talk about Starlab, their commercial space station which recently won a contract award from NASA as part of their Commercial LEO Destinations program.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Simon, Lauren, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Aegis Trade Law, Fred, Hemant, Dawn Aerospace, and seven anonymous—and 706 other supporters.

Topics

• Nanoracks - Your Portal to Space
• Nanoracks Appoints Marshall Smith as Senior Vice President of Space Systems
• Starlab - The first ever free-flying commercial space station - Nanoracks
• Nanoracks Space Outpost Program
• T+200: Orbital Reef, Starlab, and the ISS Conundrum - Main Engine Cut Off
• Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin partner on commercial space station project - SpaceNews
• NASA awards funding to three commercial space station concepts - SpaceNews

The Show

• Like the show? Support the show!
• Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
• Follow @WeHaveMECO
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• Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
• Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop
• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA