エピソード

  • T+317: Isaacman Renomination Hearing, Starliner Flights Cut, Starship at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 Almost Sticks the Landing, and More (with Stephen Clark)
    2025/12/08
    Stephen Clark of Ars Technica joins me to talk about a ton of stories in the news—Jared Isaacman was back in front of Congress, a few Starliner flights have been cut from the ISS manifest, Starship received environmental approval to proceed at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 almost stuck its first landing attempt, the Soyuz launch pad fell apart at Baikonur, and the Space Force has a new mission naming scheme.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Matt, Fred, Kris, Natasha Tsakos, Josh from Impulse, Better Every Day Studios, Joakim, Joel, Ryan, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Heiko, Jan, Theo and Violet, Donald, Pat, Will and Lars from Agile, Lee, Russell, Joonas, Warren, Steve, Frank, Stealth Julian, David, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.TopicsAuthor: Stephen Clark - Ars TechnicaNASA nominee appears before Congress, defends plans to revamp space agency - Ars TechnicaCongress warned that NASA’s current plan for Artemis “cannot work” - Ars TechnicaNASA seeks a “warm backup” option as key decision on lunar rover nears - Ars TechnicaIt’s official: Boeing’s next flight of Starliner will be allowed to carry cargo only - Ars TechnicaA spectacular explosion shows China is close to obtaining reusable rockets - Ars TechnicaBefore a Soyuz launch Thursday someone forgot to secure a 20-ton service platform - Ars TechnicaRivals object to SpaceX’s Starship plans in Florida—who’s interfering with whom? - Ars TechnicaSpaceX on X: “We’ve received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started. With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s…”Attack, defend, pursue—the Space Force’s new naming scheme foretells new era - Ars TechnicaThe ShowLike the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.comFollow @WeHaveMECOFollow @meco@spacey.space on MastodonListen to MECO HeadlinesListen to Off-NominalJoin the Off-Nominal DiscordSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhereSubscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off NewsletterArtwork photo by Blue OriginWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    1 時間
  • T+316: New Glenn’s Second Launch, First Landing, and Upgrade Roadmap
    2025/11/26

    Blue Origin is fresh off an incredible few weeks—a successful second launch and first landing of New Glenn, followed by an exciting unveil of upgrades to the vehicle, including an enormous new version, New Glenn 9x4.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Natasha Tsakos, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Pat, Heiko, Kris, Jan, Better Every Day Studios, Theo and Violet, Matt, Josh from Impulse, Russell, Joel, Warren, Joonas, Joakim, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Donald, David, Frank, Steve, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket came back home after taking aim at Mars - Ars Technica
    • Jeff Bezos on X: “Good overview of the landing. We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time. We are all excited and grateful for yesterday…”
    • New Glenn Update | Blue Origin
    • Booster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing - NASASpaceFlight.com
    • Senate Commerce Committee schedules hearing on Isaacman renomination - SpaceNews
    • Lawmakers writing NASA’s budget want a cheaper upper stage for the SLS rocket - Ars Technica

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
    • Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon
    • Listen to MECO Headlines
    • Listen to Off-Nominal
    • Join the Off-Nominal Discord
    • Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere
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    • Artwork photo by JAXA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    30 分
  • T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros)
    2025/11/11
    Simone D’Amico of Stanford and EraDrive, DJ Bush of NVIDIA, and Al Tadros of Redwire join me to talk about autonomy in space, to get into the specific details of what they’re working on and how it comes together, and what it may do for the industry in the next few years.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joonas, Russell, Donald, Stealth Julian, Pat, Fred, David, Lee, Frank, Josh from Impulse, Steve, Joel, Joakim, Matt, Natasha Tsakos, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Kris, Theo and Violet, Heiko, Will and Lars from Agile, Jan, Warren, The Astrogators at SEE, Ryan, Better Every Day Studios, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.TopicsEpisode T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros) - YouTubeSimone D'Amico | LinkedInCenter for AEroSpace Autonomy Research (CAESAR)Stanford spinoff EraDrive claims $1 million NASA contract - SpaceNewsDJ Bush | LinkedInHow Starcloud Is Bringing Data Centers to Outer Space | NVIDIA BlogAl Tadros | LinkedInRedwire Space | Heritage + InnovationNASA Starling - Autonomous Tip and Cue in OrbitNASA Starling - Distributed Optical NavigationNASA Starling - Autonomous Space Domain AwarenessVISORS - Precise Formation-FlyingAutonomous Spacecraft 3D Model ReconstructionThe ShowLike the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.comFollow @WeHaveMECOFollow @meco@spacey.space on MastodonListen to MECO HeadlinesListen to Off-NominalJoin the Off-Nominal DiscordSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhereSubscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off NewsletterArtwork photo by JAXAWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    1 時間 3 分
  • T+314: Jockeying for the Artemis 3 Lander, and the NASA Administrator Position
    2025/10/31

    Thinking through the chaos that has ensued over the NASA Administrator role, the Artemis 3 lander acceleration movement, the SpaceX Starship HLS update, and a bit on how we actually got here.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Donald, Stealth Julian, Jan, Theo and Violet, The Astrogators at SEE, Joakim, Steve, Matt, Fred, Lee, Joel, Kris, Ryan, David, Josh from Impulse, Warren, Heiko, Pat, Russell, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joonas, Better Every Day Studios, Will and Lars from Agile, Natasha Tsakos, Frank, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • SpaceX - Updates
    • SpaceX teases simplified Starship as alarms sound over Moon landing delays - Ars Technica
    • Why did NASA’s chief just shake up the agency’s plans to land on the Moon? - Ars Technica
    • Elon Musk just declared war on NASA’s acting administrator, apparently - Ars Technica
    • How America fell behind China in the lunar space race—and how it can catch back up - Ars Technica
    • China completes landing and takeoff test for crewed moon lander - SpaceNews
    • China completes second hot-fire test for new moon rocket, including engine restarts - SpaceNews
    • Trump pulls Isaacman nomination for space. Source: “NASA is f***ed.” - Ars Technica

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
    • Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon
    • Listen to MECO Headlines
    • Listen to Off-Nominal
    • Join the Off-Nominal Discord
    • Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere
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    • Artwork photo by NASA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    35 分
  • T+313: Starlink, Kuiper, Project Bromo, and More (with Caleb Henry)
    2025/10/30

    Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me (in studio!) to talk about Starlink V3, Starlink satellite relay, Kuiper’s rollout, the Airbus-Thales-Leonardo merger, and the future of Iridium.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Heiko, Joonas, Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Russell, Joakim, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, David, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Will and Lars from Agile, Better Every Day Studios, Jan, Fred, Warren, Kris, Pat, Donald, Matt, Frank, Stealth Julian, Ryan, Theo and Violet, Lee, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • Caleb Henry (@ChenrySpace) / X
    • The OneWeb Book | Caleb Henry | Substack
    • Quilty Space
    • Satellite operators will soon join airlines in using Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi - Ars Technica
    • Starlink mini lasers to link Muon Space satellites for near real-time connectivity - SpaceNews
    • Project Kuiper plots broadband services in five countries by end of March - SpaceNews
    • Airbus, Leonardo and Thales agree to combine space businesses - SpaceNews
    • Project Bromo: An Escape Hatch, Not a Fortress
    • Iridium pulls $1 billion 2030 service revenue goal amid SpaceX’s D2D push - SpaceNews

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
    • Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon
    • Listen to MECO Headlines
    • Listen to Off-Nominal
    • Join the Off-Nominal Discord
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    • Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
    • Artwork photo by NASA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    33 分
  • T+312: Starship Flight 11, Space Policy, and Priorities (with Miles O’Brien)
    2025/10/17

    Miles O’Brien, science correspondent for PBS News and CNN space analyst, joins me to talk about Starship Flight 11, the current space policy landscape including the ongoing government shutdown, the possible return of Jared Isaacman, and what to do about all the competing budget priorities at NASA.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joakim, David, Heiko, Ryan, Jan, Kris, Frank, Josh from Impulse, Steve, Russell, Joonas, Joel, Matt, Will and Lars from Agile, Natasha Tsakos, Donald, Lee, Better Every Day Studios, Warren, Theo and Violet, Pat, Fred, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Stealth Julian, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • Miles O'Brien Productions - Miles O'Brien
    • Miles Ahead | Miles O'Brien | Substack
    • SpaceX finally got exactly what it needed from Starship V2 - Ars Technica
    • More layoffs at JPL - SpaceNews
    • Trump, Billionaire Isaacman Said to Meet About Top NASA Job - Bloomberg
    • Former NASA nominee Jared Isaacman in talks to become agency's chief | Reuters

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
    • Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon
    • Listen to MECO Headlines
    • Listen to Off-Nominal
    • Join the Off-Nominal Discord
    • Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere
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    • Artwork photo by NASA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    44 分
  • T+311: Phil McAlister on Commercial LEO and NASA’s Human Spaceflight Budget
    2025/10/10

    Phil McAlister, former Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division, joins me to talk about the Commercial LEO Destinations program, the budgetary issues facing NASA and its human spaceflight programs, and to share his perspective on the last (and next) few years in these areas.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joel, Pat, Will and Lars from Agile, Joakim, Jan, Warren, David, Fred, Better Every Day Studios, Josh from Impulse, Ryan, Natasha Tsakos, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Stealth Julian, Donald, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, Russell, Kris, Frank, Steve, Heiko, Lee, Matt, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • Phil McAlister | LinkedIn
    • The Dreaded Gap | LinkedIn
    • You Can’t Reach the Stars While Chained to Low-Earth Orbit | LinkedIn
    • No Changes Allowed | LinkedIn
    • Vast backs new NASA commercial space station strategy - SpaceNews
    • T+205: Phil McAlister, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA - Main Engine Cut Off

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
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    • Artwork photo by NASA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    43 分
  • T+310: NASA’s “Prove It” Era
    2025/09/26

    NASA selected Blue Origin to (maybe) deliver the once-cancelled VIPER rover, modified Sierra Space’s ISS resupply contract which likely puts the nail in the coffin of Dream Chaser, and released the draft of its new commercial space station strategy. All different stories with one message: prove it. But maybe not in a good way.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Jan, Kris, Lee, Will and Lars from Agile, Theo and Violet, Better Every Day Studios, Josh from Impulse, Joakim, Bob, Donald, Creative Taxi, Frank, Pat, Joonas, Fred, Heiko, Warren, Matt, Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), David, Ryan, Russell, Stealth Julian, Steve, Natasha Tsakos, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    • NASA Selects Blue Origin to Deliver VIPER Rover to Moon’s South Pole - NASA
    • VIPER Might Have A New Ride to the Moon on Blue Origin – SpacePolicyOnline.com
    • Blue Origin only bidder for new VIPER lander award - SpaceNews
    • NASA, Sierra Space Modify Commercial Resupply Services Contract - NASA
    • Sierra’s Dream Chaser is starting to resemble a nightmare - Ars Technica
    • NASA releases details on revised next phase of commercial space station development - SpaceNews
    • Vast backs new NASA commercial space station strategy - SpaceNews

    The Show

    • Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
    • Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com
    • Follow @WeHaveMECO
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    • Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter
    • Artwork photo by NASA
    • Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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    20 分