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…

Chris Pearson (CEO) and Lars Osborne (Chief Engineer) of Agile Space join me to talk about what they’re working on, how the company has gotten to where it is today, and what’s in store for the future. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Pat from KC, Chris, Benjamin, Pat, Jan, Joonas, The Astrogators at SE…

Northrop Grumman has changed plans—they’ve ended their own space station project, and will contribute to Starlab. At the same time, Blue Origin and Sierra Space are reconsidering their Orbital Reef plans, amidst changing leadership and raising money. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 35 executive producers—Jan, Frank, The Ast…

Tom Marotta of The Spaceport Company joins me to talk about what they’re working on, their vision for the future of spaceflight, spaceport operations, the demonstration they did in May, the FAA and its interaction with private companies, reentry licensing, and a whole host of other topics. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34…

Jake and Anthony are joined by Loren Grush of Bloomberg to talk about her new book, The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Frank, Chris, Joel, Fred, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Steve, David, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com, Kris, Theo and Vi…

Scott Tilley joins me to talk about ISRO’s success with Chandrayaan-3, Roscosmos’ Luna-25 mission and the mystery behind it, and the state of the Deep Space Network. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 34 executive producers—Pat, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut), Joel, Fred, Craig from SpaceHappyHour.com, Steve, Pat from KC, J…