Firefly added launch sites in Virginia and Sweden for its Alpha vehicle. NASA has selected SpaceX to build the ISS US Deorbit Vehicle, closed out their task orders to Collins for ISS spacesuits, and decided to keep Starliner at the ISS for a few more weeks. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Joel, The As…

Redwire announced today that it has been awarded a contract from DARPA to serve as the prime mission integrator for its Otter program. For the program, and for the industry beyond that, they’ll be developing SabreSat, an air-breathing spacecraft flying in VLEO. Spence Wise, Senior Vice President of Missions and Platforms at Redwire, joins me to dis…

NASA selected the organizations who will be carrying out mission design studies for the Mars Sample Return rethink, and the US Space Force selected the first 3 bidders for the National Security Space Launch Program Phase 3 Lane 1. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Lee, Kris, Joel, Ryan, Russell, Steve, …

Starliner flew its first crew, Starship flew its fourth flight, Chang’e-6 collected its first samples, and Agnikul Cosmos flew its first mission. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Warren, Bob, Stealth Julian, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Harrison, Jan, Josh from Impulse Space, Russell, Lee, Donald, R…

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan debut went smoothly, but sluggish hardware integration raises doubts about meeting commitments, while Orion faces heat shield issues, potentially shaking up the Artemis manifest. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Lee Ryan, SmallSpark Space Systems, Benjamin, Pat, Lee, Fre…

NASA is heading back to the drawing board for a Mars Sample Return architecture, and is accepting proposals for mission studies by May. I talk about a few takeaways from the communication of that plan, and ponder whether or not SpaceX is going to do the damn thing. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Lee,…

NASA selected 3 teams to work on unpressurized rovers for Artemis, while Japan signed on officially to provide a pressurized rover in exchange for seats on Artemis landers. Elsewhere, Mitsubishi took a stake in Starlab, and I still needed to catch up on Starship’s 3rd flight and the ensuing update from SpaceX. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is…

Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—Tiangong, reusable launchers, constellations, and the Moon. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Tyler, Jan, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Benjamin, Warren, Pat, Russell, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com, Theo and Violet, SmallSpark …

Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO of K2 Space, joins me to talk about their vision for the future of satellites and the wider space industry, what they’ve been up to lately, and what their roadmap to the launch pad looks like from here. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—David, Pat from KC, Joonas, Josh fr…

Tim Crain, Co-Founder and CTO of Intuitive Machines, joins me to talk about their recent IM-1 mission to land Odysseus on the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS program. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Russell, Chris, Josh from Impulse Space, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Warren, Ryan, Matt, Harrison, Lee …

Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about Intuitive Machine’s successful landing despite so many issues on the mission, the future of CLPS, and the tough questions facing NASA and its budget. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Lee Hopkins, Better Every Day Studios, Joel, Jan, Will and Lar…

I catch up with a round up of stories from January: ULA’s first Vulcan launch, Blue Origin’s success with its BE-4 engines and what it means for their year, Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission, JAXA’s SLIM mission, and NASA’s announcement of Artemis delays. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Tyler, Lee Hopkin…

Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman of Privateer, joins me to talk about what they’re working on and what drives them as an organization. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Chris, Joonas, Tyler, Bob, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com, Theo and Violet, SmallSpark Space Systems, Matt,…

A special (free!) airing of this week’s episode of MECO Headlines. Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, Ariane 6, ISS happenings, launches, and more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Donald, Pat from KC, David, Theo and Violet, Dawn Aerospace, Steve, SmallSpark Space Systems, Jan, Chris, Bob, Tyler, Stealth Juli…

ESA is looking to start a commercial cargo program while looking further ahead to commercial space stations by signing an agreement with Airbus and Voyager. Virgin Galactic is laying off 20% of its staff and ending VSS Unity flights in just a few months. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Russell, Joonas…

Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com joins me for a roundup of space policy topics—the House Speaker mayhem, the outlook for budgets over the next year, what to do about the ISS and its related expenses, and a lot more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Frank, Kris, Tyler, Fred, Lee, Pat from KC, Dawn …

Dr. Molly Mulligan and Dr. Ken Savin of Redwire join me to talk about successfully 3D bioprinting the first human knee meniscus on the International Space Station in their BioFabrication Facility, how this work fits into the near and far future of both health and the space market at large, and to discuss a wide-ranging set of related topics. This e…