Main Engine Cut Off

I’m joined by Matt LaPointe, Technical Director at Redwire’s Deployable Space Systems, and Andrew Rush, COO of Redwire, to talk about the newest upgrade to the International Space Station: the Roll-Out Solar Arrays that are currently being deployed over the course of several spacewalks.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 41 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 617 other supporters.

Topics

• Redwire | Heritage + Innovation
• Deployable Space Systems
• ROSA Flight Demonstration Hardware Successfully Deploys On ISS - Deployable Space Systems
• New Solar Arrays to Power NASA’s International Space Station Research | NASA
• Redwire acquires Deployable Space Systems - SpaceNews
• Spacewalkers unfurl first of six new space station solar arrays – Spaceflight Now
• Redwire Space on Twitter: “Check out the new view on @Space_Station! #ICYMI: The first of our iROSA solar arrays was successfully installed on space station at 11:24am ET this morning. At 63 feet long and 20 feet wide, they'll provide a significant power boost 🔋 to the orbiting laboratory! (📸: @NASA)”
• T+131: Andrew Rush, CEO of Made in Space - Main Engine Cut Off
• Andrew Rush (@RushSpace) / Twitter

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by United Launch Alliance

Phil Bracken, Vice President of Engineering at Spaceflight, joins me to talk about their past, current, and upcoming missions, the Sherpa program, and to dive into the technical details of it all.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 41 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 595 other supporters.

Topics

• Philip Bracken - Spaceflight
• Spaceflight - Launch Services, Dedicated and Rideshare
• Spaceflight - Sherpa Program
• SSO-A - Spaceflight
• Integration Wrap Up for SXRS-5 - Spaceflight
• Inside look: Spaceflight ships out Sherpa orbital tugs
• T+162: Grant Bonin, SVP of Business Development at Spaceflight - Main Engine Cut Off

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by United Launch Alliance

Brock Howe, the Program Manager for Nanoracks’ Bishop Airlock, joins me to talk about the final build out and launch of Bishop, its installation on ISS, some details of its operations, and its plans for the future on ISS and beyond.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 592 other supporters.

Topics

• Nanoracks - Your Portal to Space
• Bishop Airlock - First Commercal Space Station Airlock
• Nanoracks (@Nanoracks) / Twitter
• Brock Howe (@B_Rock_Howe) / Twitter
• Bishop Airlock Takes Flight, Headed to ISS on SpaceX-21 Launch
• Nanoracks on Twitter: “#BishopAirlock: Now mated to @Space_Station”

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

Stephen Forbes, the Program Manager for DARPA’s Blackjack project, joins me to talk about DARPA and its interaction with the rest of the Department of Defense, how they approach space initiatives, where Blackjack came from, where it’s going, what they hope to accomplish with it, and how it fits into the near-future of the industry.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 589 other supporters.

Topics

• Blackjack
• Lockheed Martin wins $27 million contract modification for integration of DARPA’s Blackjack satellites - SpaceNews
• Northrop Grumman to supply navigation payloads for DARPA’s Blackjack satellites - SpaceNews
• SEAKR wins $60 million DARPA contract to demonstrate autonomous satellite operations - SpaceNews
• DARPA orders six satellites from Blue Canyon Technologies for Blackjack program - SpaceNews
• Raytheon wins $37 million DARPA contract for Blackjack payloads - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

SpaceX successfully flew and landed Starship SN15 last week, amid protests of their NASA HLS award by Blue Origin and Dynetics.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 576 other supporters.

Topics

• Starship | SN15 | High-Altitude Flight Test - YouTube
• Following Starship SN15's success, SpaceX evaluating next steps toward orbital goals - NASASpaceFlight.com
• Little Joe 2 BP-22 Successful Failure - YouTube
• T+186: NASA Selects Starship as Artemis Lander - Main Engine Cut Off
• Blue Origin protests NASA Human Landing System award - SpaceNews
• Dynetics protests NASA HLS award - SpaceNews
• SpaceX bid on launch of NASA cubesat mission - SpaceNews
• NASA Suspends HLS Contract With SpaceX – SpacePolicyOnline.com

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus
• Artwork photo by NASA

Eric Berger of Ars Technica returns to the show to talk about NASA selecting SpaceX’s Starship for its Artemis landings, Bill Nelson’s nomination hearing, Amazon buying 9 Atlas V launches for Kuiper, and the state of Blue Origin.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, 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, and seven anonymous—and 547 other supporters.

Topics

• Eric Berger
• Eric Berger | Ars Technica
• Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
• NASA’s bold bet on Starship for the Moon may change spaceflight forever | Ars Technica
• Bill Nelson backs NASA decision on lunar lander in confirmation hearing | Ars Technica
• ABL Space has never launched a rocket, but it just landed a huge contract | Ars Technica
• Amazon’s first Internet satellites will not launch on Blue Origin rockets | Ars Technica
• Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket is delayed for years. What went wrong? | Ars Technica
• Axiom secures $130M in additional funding — Axiom Space

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

NASA selected SpaceX’s Starship as its ride for crew to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program. As the Source Selection Statement outlines, Starship was selected as the sole winner because of the constrained lander budget. It’s an aggressive, interesting, and exciting move from NASA, so I have a lot of thoughts.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Jack, and seven anonymous—and 543 other supporters.

Topics

• As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon
• Source Selection Statement - Human Landing System, Option A Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2
• Biden Requests 6.3 Percent Increase for NASA – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Chairwoman Johnson Statement on NASA’s Artemis Human Landing System Award | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
• Amazon contracts nine Atlas 5 missions for Kuiper broadband satellites - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

President Biden nominated Bill Nelson to be the new NASA Administrator, so I check in on some of my past thoughts on NASA Administrators and Jim Bridenstine, talk about Bill Nelson’s history in space policy, and what the future may hold under a Bill Nelson NASA.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, and seven anonymous—and 523 other supporters.

Topics

• President Biden Announces his Intent to Nominate Bill Nelson for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration | The White House
• Widespread support for Nelson nomination to lead NASA - SpaceNews
• Sen. Nelson Floats Alternate Use for NASA Commercial Crew Money - SpaceNews
• NASA to offer funding for initial studies of commercial space stations - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

Our good friend Jake Robins, host of WeMartians and my cohost on Off-Nominal, joins me to talk about the arrival and early operations of the 2021 Mars fleet—Hope, Tianwen-1, and Perseverance. Then we dig into what the future of Martian exploration looks like, including strategy, communications, sample return, and the upcoming decadal survey.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, and seven anonymous—and 509 other supporters.

Topics

• WeMartians Podcast
• Jake Robins | Patreon
• WeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) / Twitter
• Jake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) / Twitter
• Home - Off-Nominal
• Episode 39 - Europe Saved Cassini’s Ass - Off-Nominal
• WeMartians - Episode 95 - Big Rocket Roundup (feat. Anthony Colangelo)
• Hope Mars Mission on Twitter: “The Emirates Ultraviolet Spectrometer captured these images of Mars from an altitude of 36,000 km above the Martian surface. Each colour represents light collected at a different ultraviolet wavelength and provides information about the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere.”
• WeMartians - Episode 81 – A Probe Called Hope (feat. the Mars Hope team)
• WeMartians - Episode 92 - Hope Arrives at Mars (feat. Sarah Al Amiri)
• China's Tianwen-1 enters orbit around Mars - SpaceNews
• WeMartians - Episode 94 - Guiding Perseverance to the Ground (feat. Swati Mohan)
• Mars 2020 Mastcam Z Sol 4 Horizon Panorama
• Report calls for revamped cost-conscious vision for Mars exploration - SpaceNews
• NASA Awards Mars Ascent Propulsion System Contract for Sample Return – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program
• NASA considering commercial Mars data relay satellites - SpaceNews

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

Peter Beck, Founder, CEO, and CTO of Rocket Lab, joins me to talk about going public, their new, bigger launch vehicle, Neutron, updates to their Electron and Photon offerings, eating hats, and avoiding eating hats in the future.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 39 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Matt, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, and seven anonymous—and 498 other supporters.

Topics

• Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) / Twitter
• Rocket Lab | Frequent and reliable access launch is now a reality | Rocket Lab
• Neutron | Rocket Lab
• Introducing Neutron - YouTube
• Episode T+182: Rocket Lab Neutron, Relativity Terran R - Main Engine Cut Off
• Rocket Lab says SPAC deal will accelerate development of Neutron rocket - SpaceNews
• Rocket Lab Demonstrates New Orbital Maneuvering Capability with Most Complex Kick Stage Mission Yet | Rocket Lab
• Rocket Lab on Twitter: “But the mission's not over then! After customer payloads are deployed, Photon Pathstone will remain in orbit to build flight heritage across the spacecraft’s subsystems ahead of our CAPSTONE mission to the Moon for @NASA later this year.”
• Peter Beck on Twitter: “First Rocket Lab solar panels rolling off the Long Beach production line for Photon missions.”
• Peter Beck on Twitter: “The briefcase – this is what makes Photon a plug and play satellite. Attach this to any Kick Stage and it instantly becomes a Photon satellite. Launching on our next mission later in March.”

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus