Main Engine Cut Off

SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy last week and shook up the space launch world. I spend some time thinking through SpaceX’s motivations for building Falcon Heavy, and what its effects might be on the world around it.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 27 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Laszlo, and six anonymous—and 125 other supporters on Patreon.

The Commercial Crew program—NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, and more—went in front of Congress to discuss the current status of the crew launch systems in development. Concurrently, the GAO released a report warning that more delays are likely, and could put NASA in a tough spot. I share some thoughts on the matter and talk through what is likely to happen this year.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 24 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, and five anonymous—and 120 other supporters on Patreon.

The US Air Force has developed a viable corridor for launching to polar and other high-inclination orbits from Cape Canaveral. I spend some time thinking through who may be interested in using that corridor and what its existence could mean for the newer launch vehicles in development.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 24 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, and five anonymous—and 113 other supporters on Patreon.

Robin Seemangal joins me for a free-flowing discussion on the stories we found most important in 2017 and what we’re looking forward to in 2018, including SpaceX’s huge year, Blue Origin’s under-the-radar work to lay foundations for their future, SLS’ rough year, and—what else?—Falcon Heavy.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 23 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, and five anonymous—and 108 other supporters on Patreon.

Mike Lewis, CTO of NanoRacks joins me to talk about what they’re working on today, as well as their big plans for the future, including their upcoming airlock and the Ixion project—their ongoing work to turn spent upper stages into useful spacecraft.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 23 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, and five anonymous—and 108 other supporters on Patreon.

A special preview of the MECO Headlines shows: Elon Musk kinda-sorta-maybe announces the Falcon Heavy demo payload, Russia and China carry out successful military launches, NASA announces some very interesting NextSTEP-2 contracts, OA-8E Cygnus departs ISS, and SpaceX’s SLC-40 is back, baby!

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 23 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, and five anonymous—and 107 other supporters on Patreon.

I was in Houston last week and I visited NanoRacks for a bit. And Virgin Orbit piqued the interest of the Department of Defense, which has some interesting implications.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 22 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Robert, Brian, and five anonymous—and 104 other supporters on Patreon.

SES gives us a preview of their new GEO strategy (which may be a harbinger of the future), Orbital ATK tests a new composite case to be used for their Next-Generation Launcher and future SLS boosters, NASA approves the use of previously-flown Falcon 9 first stages, and SpaceX sets off some LOX fireworks down in McGregor, Texas.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 23 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Robert, Brian, and five anonymous—and 96 other supporters on Patreon.

Blue Origin fired up their BE-4 engine for the first time, which is a big moment. And I share some meandering thoughts on the future of commercial and military launch.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 22 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Robert, and five anonymous—and 95 other supporters on Patreon.

• Blue Origin on Twitter: “First hotfire of our BE-4 engine is a success #GradatimFerociter”
• Blue Origin just sent a jolt through the aerospace industry | Ars Technica
• Tory Bruno on Twitter: “@WeHaveMECO CDR in December. Tooling is the factory. First hardware in fab. pad mods underway”
• Tory Bruno on Twitter: “@IanPineapple @WeHaveMECO Cape pad will be backwards compatible. VAFB may not need that”
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Tory Bruno wrote an op-ed in SpaceNews regarding Vulcan and its future, and he announced that ULA will be upgrading Centaur. Elon Musk spent some time on reddit talking about BFR and updating us on some of the details.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 21 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, and five anonymous—and 92 other supporters on Patreon.