Main Engine Cut Off

Relativity sorta-announced a bigger launch vehicle, Terran R. A few days later, Rocket Lab really announced a bigger launch vehicle, Neutron. I hate one announcement, and love the other.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 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 483 other supporters.

Topics

• Relativity's reusable Terran rocket competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9
• Relativity Space on Twitter: “We've officially completed and buckle-tested the Stage 1 Iron Bird tank demonstrator model! Check out these shots of the tank moving outdoors, going fully vertically and being installed into our LA1 Structures Test Stand.”
• Neutron | Rocket Lab
• Introducing Neutron - YouTube
• 2020 NASA Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) Selections | NASA

The Show

• Like the show? Support the show!
• Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
• Follow @WeHaveMECO
• Listen to MECO Headlines
• Join the Off-Nominal Discord
• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts
• Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
• Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop
• Music by Max Justus

SpaceX broke their turnaround record and is racking up quite the flight history across their Falcon fleet. Lockheed selected ABL for a launch from the Shetland Islands. Firefly shook up their board, is looking for new investment, and won a CLPS contract from NASA.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 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, and seven anonymous—and 471 other supporters.

Topics

• Gwynne Shotwell talks about selling flight-proven rockets, Starship | Ars Technica
• SpaceX fires 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, with more set to launch Friday – Spaceflight Now
• Lockheed Martin selects ABL Space Systems for UK launch - SpaceNews
• Episode T+169: Commercial Small Launcher Updates - Main Engine Cut Off
• Main Engine Cut Off on Twitter: “Something is up at @Firefly_Space, though. Max Polyakov and Mark Watt have been removed from Firefly’s about page within the last month or two. Here it is on the Wayback Machine from October…”
• On eve of first launch, Firefly revamps board of directors, may go public | Ars Technica
• Firefly Aerospace seeking to raise $350 million - SpaceNews
• NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery | NASA

The Show

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

Christian Davenport, reporter at The Washington Post, joins me to talk about the aborted SLS Green Run hot fire, the space policy landscape as we enter a new administration, Axiom’s Ax-1 mission and its crew, and Virgin Orbit’s first successful launch to orbit.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 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, Space Exploration Engineering, and seven anonymous—and 473 other supporters.

Topics

• Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) / Twitter
• Christian Davenport - The Washington Post
• The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos - Bookshop.org
• The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos - Amazon
• Officials had doubts about likely success of NASA SLS test, briefing notes show - The Washington Post
• Trump pushed NASA to land astronauts on the moon by 2024. It’s not going to happen. - The Washington Post
• Meet the private citizens who'll pay $55 million each to fly to the International Space Station - The Washington Post
• Episode 32 - Well Within the Kill Zone | Off-Nominal
• Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit rocket reaches space - The Washington Post

The Show

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

Meagan Crawford, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SpaceFund and host of the Mission Eve podcast, joins the show to talk about the financing side of space. We talk about recent rounds of fundraising, acquisitions, holding companies, and she helps me sort through my thoughts on the whole Special Purpose Acquisition Company trend.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 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, and seven anonymous—and 466 other supporters.

Topics

• Meagan Crawford (@MeaganMCrawford) / Twitter
• SpaceFund Venture Capital - Funding the Future | SpaceFund
• ‎Mission Eve on Apple Podcasts
• Mission Eve | Podcast on Spotify
• SpaceX raises $1.9 billion in equity - SpaceNews
• Relativity Space raises $500 million - SpaceNews
• OneWeb raises $400 million - SpaceNews
• Remote sensing satellite firm completes huge funding round as Chinese space sector activity accelerates - SpaceNews
• China’s Landspace raises $175 million for Zhuque-2 launch vehicles - SpaceNews
• China's First Commercial Rocket Company Raises USD181 Mln to Develop Kuaizhou Series of Carrier Rockets
• Lockheed Martin to Acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, Strengthening Position as Leading Provider of Technologies to Deter Threats and Help Secure the United States and its Allies - Dec 20, 2020
• Space holding company Voyager to acquire Nanoracks, which added an airlock to the space station | Voyager Space Holdings
• Redwire acquires Made In Space - SpaceNews
• Richard Branson’s Virgin Turns to SPAC to Raise Cash - WSJ
• Momentus to go public with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. - SpaceNews

The Show

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

Andrew Jones returns to the show for the third time to talk about China’s current missions and future plans, including Chang’e-5, Tianwen-1, the Chinese Space Station, and the international politics surrounding it. And then we dig into the Chinese commercial market a bit—launch companies and remote sensing companies are raising a ton of money, but it’s not yet clear what effect that will have on the global market.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 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, and seven anonymous—and 460 other supporters.

Topics

• Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) / Twitter
• Andrew Jones, SpaceNews
• Andrew Jones, Space.com
• Andrew Jones, The Planetary Society
• Chang’e-5 spacecraft prepare for historic lunar orbit rendezvous, sample relay - SpaceNews
• China recovers Chang’e-5 moon samples after complex 23-day mission - SpaceNews
• Chang’e-5 orbiter embarks on extended mission to Sun-Earth Lagrange point - SpaceNews
• Tianwen-1 launches for Mars, marking dawn of Chinese interplanetary exploration - SpaceNews
• China’s CASC targets more than 40 space launches in 2021 - SpaceNews
• China gears up for space station, cargo and crewed mission launches - SpaceNews
• Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft releases object before returning to Earth - SpaceNews
• China pushes ahead with super-heavy-lift Long March 9 - SpaceNews
• China’s Landspace raises $175 million for Zhuque-2 launch vehicles - SpaceNews
• Remote sensing satellite firm completes huge funding round as Chinese space sector activity accelerates - SpaceNews
• Spacety shares first images from small C-band SAR satellite - SpaceNews

The Show

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

NASA awarded Venture Class Launch Services contracts to Astra, Firefly, and Relativity. Astra almost made orbit with its most recent test flight of Rocket 3.2. And something is up at Firefly, but I don’t know what yet.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and six anonymous—and 447 other supporters.

Topics

• NASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 Contract | NASA
• NASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Contracts | NASA
• Astra, Relativity, and Firefly Win NASA Venture Class Launch Services Contracts - Main Engine Cut Off
• Virgin Orbit on Twitter: “Our vehicles, hardware, and software are all ready to go. With two rehearsals already complete, one final wet dress rehearsal is all that remains for us to do. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting our ability to safely operate, and thus our schedule.”
• Astra narrowly misses reaching orbit on second launch - SpaceNews
• Astra’s smallsat launcher reaches space on second test flight – Spaceflight Now
• Astra on Twitter: “A quick video recap of our 8.5-minute flight to space today!”
• A Small-Rocket Maker Is Running a Different Kind of Space Race
• At Astra, failure is an option | Ars Technica
• Main Engine Cut Off on Twitter: “Something is up at @Firefly_Space, though. Max Polyakov and Mark Watt have been removed from Firefly’s about page within the last month or two. Here it is on the Wayback Machine from October…”
• About - Firefly Aerospace
• About - Firefly Aerospace (as of October, 2020)
• Savage Memes and Lunar Dreams: Deceptive Dating Sites' Intimate Ties to Firefly Aerospace

The Show

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

Starship SN8 took flight last week on a mostly-successful mission to test its final descent phase. I share some thoughts on the test, the state of Starship development, and what that all means for the near future of Starship.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 438 other supporters.

Topics

• On the Spectacular Flight of Starship SN8 and the Future of Starship Development - Main Engine Cut Off
• Starship | SN8 | High-Altitude Flight Test - YouTube
• SpaceX on Twitter: “Starship landing flip maneuver”
• September 2019 Starship Update - YouTube
• U.S. Transportation Command to study use of SpaceX rockets to move cargo around the world - SpaceNews
• Episode T+149: Let’s Talk About Starship with Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut - Main Engine Cut Off
• Starship SN5 Flew, So Let’s Check In on Some Predictions - Main Engine Cut Off
• Senate bill offers NASA only a fraction of requested lunar lander funding - SpaceNews

The Show

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

A lot of big, long-running projects have faced delays recently, and it seems like as good a time as any to check in and share some related thoughts. I cover a lot in this one: the Orion PDU issue, Ariane 6, Japan’s H3, Dream Chaser, Vulcan, and New Glenn.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 434 other supporters.

Topics

• Component failure in NASA’s deep-space crew capsule could take months to fix - The Verge
• Update on Orion Final Assembly and Transfer – Artemis
• New Artemis 1 schedule uncertainty as NASA EGS ready to continue SLS Booster stacking - NASASpaceFlight.com
• NASA ‘Go’ for Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal – Artemis
• Ariane 6 Slips to 2022, Needs Another €230 Million - Main Engine Cut Off
• ESA requests €230 million more for Ariane 6 as maiden flight slips to 2022 - SpaceNews
• Japan’s new H3 launcher delayed by rocket engine component issues - SpaceNews
• First Dream Chaser mission slips to 2022 - SpaceNews
• ULA: Dream Chaser schedule slip not a setback to Vulcan certification - SpaceNews
• ULA on Twitter: “Off to the pneumatic test facility! This time lapse really shows the size of the #VulcanCentaur booster stage as it was transported to pressure testing. The booster is 5.4 m (17.7 ft) in diameter compared to #AtlasV’s common core booster that is 3.8 m (12.5 ft).”
• World's largest launch pad takes shape at Cape Canaveral
• Stephen Marr on Twitter: “You literally never know what you’ll see in port! This morning, I spotted something that looks an awful lot like a launch mount, with a hole in the middle that looks big enough for a New Glenn!”

The Show

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

SpaceX Crew-1 successfully launched and docked last week, kicking off a new era of the ISS. It’s a good time to zoom out and look at the ISS program overall, and what it means for the future of space development.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 430 other supporters.

Topics

• CREW-1 MISSION - SpaceX - Updates
• NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 Mission | NASA
• Crew-1 Mission | Launch - YouTube
• Crew-1 Mission | Rendezvous and Docking - YouTube
• NASA safety panel raises doubts about Starliner test flight schedule - SpaceNews
• Axiom Space finalizing first commercial ISS mission - SpaceNews
• Next-Generation Airlock Prepped for SpaceX CRS-21 Launch – Kennedy Space Center
• First Dream Chaser mission slips to 2022 - SpaceNews

The Show

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

With a massive amount of news happening in the week following the election here in the US, it’s a good opportunity to give everyone a listen in on MECO Headlines. I run through all the stories of the week each and every weekend just like this for the supporters of MECO, so if you like what you hear, join the Headlines tier or higher!

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Simon, Lauren, Melissa, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Ryan, Nadim, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, David, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, and seven anonymous—and 421 other supporters.

Topics

• U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (SpaceX NSSL fleet surveillance)
• Airbus, Raytheon protest Space Development Agency satellite contract awards - SpaceNews
• Blue Canyon Technologies - Small Satellite Leader Blue Canyon Technologies To Be Acquired By Raytheon Technologies
• New Propulsive Sherpa OTVs Coming in 2021 - Spaceflight
• Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is at risk of collapsing
• Arecibo Radio Telescope: Warning of Structure Collapse (Updated)
• 2020 NASA Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) Selections | NASA
• Northrop Grumman Awarded Additional Cargo Resupply Missions to the International Space Station | Northrop Grumman
• ILOA-IM Announce Agreement for 2021 Lunar Landing and Milky Way Galaxy Center Imaging
• Senate Appropriators Approve Far Less for HLS Than Needed to Meet 2024 Goal - SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Biden-Harris Transition Team Names Landing Party Members - SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Virgin Galactic executive to lead Australian Space Agency - SpaceNews
• Ukraine signs NASA Artemis Agreement to study Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids - Ukraine signs agreement with NASA to study Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids - 112.international
• Chinese rocket firm Galactic Energy succeeds with first orbital launch, secures funding - SpaceNews
• Ceres-1 maiden launch - YouTube
• Indian PSLV deploys 10 satellites in first launch since start of pandemic - Spaceflight Now
• Long March 3B lofts second Tiantong-1 spacecraft - NASASpaceFlight.com
• ULA Atlas 5 launches National Reconnaissance Office satellite - SpaceNews
• SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log: NROL-101: probably a HEO mission

The Show

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