Podcast
Main Engine Cut Off
Hosted by Anthony Colangelo · EN
MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.
25episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
T+317: Isaacman Renomination Hearing, Starliner Flights Cut, Starship at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 Almost Sticks the Landing, and More (with Stephen Clark)
Dec 800:59:59Tap to summarizeStephen 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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T+316: New Glenn’s Second Launch, First Landing, and Upgrade Roadmap
Nov 2600:30:12Tap to summarizeBlue 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.TopicsBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket came back home after taking aim at Mars - Ars TechnicaJeff 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 OriginBooster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing - NASASpaceFlight.comSenate Commerce Committee schedules hearing on Isaacman renomination - SpaceNewsLawmakers writing NASA’s budget want a cheaper upper stage for the SLS rocket - 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 JAXAWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros)
Nov 1101:03:06Tap to summarizeSimone 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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T+314: Jockeying for the Artemis 3 Lander, and the NASA Administrator Position
Oct 3100:34:59Tap to summarizeThinking 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.TopicsSpaceX - UpdatesSpaceX teases simplified Starship as alarms sound over Moon landing delays - Ars TechnicaWhy did NASA’s chief just shake up the agency’s plans to land on the Moon? - Ars TechnicaElon Musk just declared war on NASA’s acting administrator, apparently - Ars TechnicaHow America fell behind China in the lunar space race—and how it can catch back up - Ars TechnicaChina completes landing and takeoff test for crewed moon lander - SpaceNewsChina completes second hot-fire test for new moon rocket, including engine restarts - SpaceNewsTrump pulls Isaacman nomination for space. Source: “NASA is f***ed.” - 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 NASAWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
Transcribe →T+122: National Security SpaceX Lawsuit
May 28, 2019Tap to summarizeNSSL, LSA, OMG! Last week, SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the US Air Force over the Launch Service Agreement development contracts. We’re mere months away from bids being due for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 launch contracts, so I figured now would be a good time to take a step back to explain what these programs are, why they matter, and why SpaceX is filing this lawsuit at this moment in time. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 40 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Rui, Julian, Lars, Heather, Tommy, and six anonymous—and 251 other supporters on Patreon. Crunch time: Rocket companies in all-out battle for Air Force award - SpaceNews.com SpaceX’s Redacted Filing (PDF, 4.2 MB) SpaceX launches new legal battle against U.S. Air Force - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com 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 Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon Music by Max Justus
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