Main Engine Cut Off

NASA selected SpaceX and their new Dragon XL vehicle as the first Gateway Logistics Services provider. I take some time to think through why SpaceX is interested in this program, what they might want to get out of it, and what we could see Dragon XL doing in the future.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 352 other supporters.

Topics

• NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Gateway Logistics Services | NASA
• NASA Seeks Information for Gateway Cargo Delivery Services
• Episode T+124: Gateway Logistics Services, FY2020 NDAA, and Small GEO Satellites - Main Engine Cut Off
• NASA to pay more for less cargo delivery to the space station | Ars Technica
• SpaceX reveals the controls of its Dragon spacecraft for the first time | Ars Technica

The Show

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After a tumultuous past few years, DARPA has selected a new partner for RSGS. It is none other than Northrop Grumman, who has found early success with their satellite servicing ventures.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 349 other supporters.

Topics

• MEV-1 Docks with Intelsat 901 - Main Engine Cut Off
• Maxar/SSL Cancels DARPA RSGS Satellite Servicing Agreement - Main Engine Cut Off
• DARPA picks Northrop Grumman as its commercial partner for satellite servicing program - SpaceNews.com
• Northrop Grumman’s Wholly Owned Subsidiary, SpaceLogistics, Selected by DARPA as Commercial Partner for Robotic Servicing Mission | Northrop Grumman
• Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes Historic First Docking of Mission Extension Vehicle with Intelsat 901 Satellite | Northrop Grumman
• Episode T+93: NASA Goddard and Restore-L - Main Engine Cut Off

The Show

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SpaceX recently signed two agreements: one with Axiom Space to fly a private mission up to the ISS, and one with Space Adventures for a free-flying tourist flight up to 1,000 kilometers. I discuss these two missions and why agreements like this are key to SpaceX’s long-term strategy.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Matthew, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 347 other supporters.

Topics

• Axiom Space plans first-ever fully private human spaceflight mission to International Space Station
• Episode T+147: Mike Suffredini, President & CEO of Axiom - Main Engine Cut Off
• Space Adventures Announces Agreement with SpaceX to Launch Private Citizens on the Crew Dragon Spacecraft - Space Adventures
• NASA Awards Psyche Launch to SpaceX, Who Now Has Its First Mars Launch on the Books - Main Engine Cut Off
• Farewell, Red Dragon - Main Engine Cut Off

The Show

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Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, joins me to talk all about SpaceX’s Starship, its history thus far, it’s nearly-impossible-to-keep-up-with development in the open, and what we may see in the coming months. We make some timeline predictions, talk about the predicament of Boca Chica, and both randomly stumble into completely unsupported theories.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 345 other supporters.

Topics

• Everyday Astronaut
• Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) / Twitter
• Everyday Astronaut - YouTube
• Starship | SpaceX
• Starship Development Thread - r/spacex
• A conversation with Elon Musk about Starship - YouTube
• Is SpaceX's Raptor engine the king of rocket engines? - YouTube
• Are Aerospikes Better Than Bell Nozzles? - YouTube

The Show

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Long-time head of human spaceflight at NASA, Bill Gerstenmaier, has joined SpaceX as a consultant, but everyone is excited for the wrong reasons. And SpaceX missed a booster landing on their most recent Starlink launch, which prompted a new round of debates over whether booster recovery is part of mission success or not.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 335 other supporters.

Topics

• SpaceX hires former NASA official William Gerstenmaier
• Gerst the Politician, Gerst the Engineer - Main Engine Cut Off
• Starlink Mission - YouTube
• SpaceX launches fifth batch of Starlink satellites, misses booster landing - SpaceNews.com

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

Mike Suffredini, President and CEO of Axiom, joins me to talk about their recent announcement: Axiom has been selected by NASA for access to an ISS port. They will build out Axiom Station as an expansion of the ISS, and eventually operate it as a free-flying space station. Before Axiom, Mike was NASA’s ISS Program Manager for a decade.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 328 other supporters.

Topics

• Axiom Space
• Axiom Space - Overview and Team
• NASA Selects First Commercial Destination Module for Space Station | NASA
• Axiom selected by NASA for access to International Space Station port
• Assembly Sequence: Watch the Axiom Segment of the ISS constructed module-by-module
• NASA Selects Axiom for ISS Node 2 Expansion - Main Engine Cut Off
• Episode T+120: Dr. Mike Baine, Axiom Space - Main Engine Cut Off
• NextSTEP K: Commercial Destination Development in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Free Flyer | NASA

The Show

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Loren Grush of The Verge joins me to talk about a whole host of current topics—SpaceX’s in-flight abort test, Starliner’s shaky first test and its fallout, space traffic, Starlink, the NASA Authorization bill, and why ”Space is hard” is the worst mantra.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 329 other supporters.

Topics

• Loren Grush (@lorengrush) | Twitter
• Loren Grush Profile and Activity - The Verge
• Verge Science - YouTube
• SpaceX successfully tests escape system on new spacecraft — while destroying a rocket - The Verge
• Boeing and NASA are forming an investigation team to figure out cause of spacecraft mishap - The Verge
• Starliner’s thruster performance receiving close scrutiny from NASA | Ars Technica
• Stop saying ‘space is hard’ - The Verge
• The era of satellite-repairing robots is here - YouTube
• LeoLabs, Inc. on Twitter: “Our latest update this morning for IRAS / GGSE 4 shows a 12m miss distance, with a Probability of Collision (Pc) back to 1 in 100.”
• Mesmerizing graph shows uncomfortably close encounters between space junk - The Verge
• SpaceX successfully launches its fourth batch of internet-beaming Starlink satellites - The Verge
• House Draft NASA Authorization Bill is the Greatest Hits of Terrible, Dead-End Space Policy - Main Engine Cut Off
• A proposed House bill is threatening to rework NASA’s Moon plans - The Verge
• Christian Davenport on Twitter: “Show of force? NASA Administrator @JimBridenstine is at the House space subcommittee mark up. Says he’s here ‘because it’s open to the public.’”

The Show

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Caleb Henry of SpaceNews joins me to talk about the recent happenings in the satellite industry, including new ITU milestones for megaconstellations, SpaceX’s big year for Starlink, OneWeb’s progress, and DirecTV’s battery issue.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 325 other supporters.

Topics

• Caleb Henry, SpaceNews.com
• Caleb Henry (@CHenry_SN) / Twitter
• ITU sets milestones for megaconstellations - SpaceNews.com
• SpaceX becomes operator of world’s largest commercial satellite constellation with Starlink launch - SpaceNews.com
• DirecTV fears explosion risk from satellite with damaged battery - SpaceNews.com
• Boeing says Spaceway-1 battery failure has low risk of repeating on similar satellites - SpaceNews.com

The Show

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• Music by Max Justus

A look back at 2019 through the lens of “Who actually did something that matters this year?”

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, Sam, and six anonymous—and 325 other supporters.

The Show

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Starliner’s flight test did not go as planned, and the US 2020 budget was passed, which creates Space Force and has big implications for NASA’s work.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, Sam, and six anonymous—and 317 other supporters.

Topics

• Starliner anomaly to prevent ISS docking - SpaceNews.com
• NASA, Boeing Complete Successful Landing of Starliner Flight Test | NASA
• Thoughts on Starliner - Main Engine Cut Off
• Trump Signs FY2020 Appropriations Into Law – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Artemis Wins Only Lukewarm Support in Final NASA FY2020 Appropriation – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Trump signs defense bill establishing U.S. Space Force: What comes next - SpaceNews.com

The Show

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• Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop
• Music by Max Justus