Main Engine Cut Off

Marcia Smith of Space Policy Online joins me to talk about the recent meetings of the NASA Advisory Council, the status of Commercial Crew, Space Force, and more space policy goodness. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and eight anonymous—and 184 other supporters on Patreon. SpacePolicyOnline.com - Your first stop for news, information and analysis about civil, military and commercial space programs Marcia Smith (@SpcPlcyOnline) | Twitter SpacePolicyOnline.com | Facebook Gateway Gets Good Reviews from NAC Committees - SpacePolicyOnline.com NASA Announces Nine Commercial Crew Flight Assignments, More to Come from International Partners - SpacePolicyOnline.com Trump Continues to Talk Up Space Force As He Signs FY2019 NDAA - SpacePolicyOnline.com Email your thoughts and comment

The first official MECO Q&A! I answer questions from listeners about any and all things space—mostly. (PS: Start sending me your questions for September’s Q&A episode!) This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and eight anonymous—and 183 other supporters on Patreon. The Adventures of SpaceShipTwo: Inverted Flight, Wonky Gyros & an Impatient Billionaire - Parabolic Arc Virgin Galactic’s Rocket Man | The New Yorker Exos Aerospace SARGE Whip - YouTube BETA 87A Vocal Microphone | Shure Americas Roland - Rubix24 | USB Audio Interface X2u XLR-to-USB Signal Adapter | Shure Americas MV88 iOS Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone | Shure Americas Rogue Amoeba | Audio Hijack: Record Any Audio on MacOS Ferrite Recording Studio: Ferrite Recording Studio — Wooji Juice Simplecast | P

Andrew Jones joins me to talk all things Chinese spaceflight—exploration, policy, industry, and more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and eight anonymous—and 182 other supporters on Patreon. Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) | Twitter Andrew Jones | The Planetary Society Andrew Jones, Author at SpaceNews.com GBTIMES: Andrew Jones Landspace of China to launch first rocket in Q4 2018 - SpaceNews.com Chinese rocket maker OneSpace secures $44m in funding; Expace prepares for commercial launch - SpaceNews.com China's mission to the far side of the Moon will launch in December | The Planetary Society Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Cas

Lockheed Martin has been slowly revealing their small sat strategy over the last three years, and it’s shaping up to be quite interesting and potentially very compelling. And NASA announced 10 Tipping Point awards last week, which include some very interesting projects from Blue Origin, ULA, and Astrobotic. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and eight anonymous—and 181 other supporters on Patreon. Terran Orbital’s Series B Round, and Lockheed’s Small Sat Master Plan - Main Engine Cut Off NASA Announces New Partnerships in Space Exploration Technologies | NASA Email your thoughts and comments 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, S

Michael Provenzano and Andrew Horchler of CubeRover and Astrobotic join me to talk about the project, the rover itself, and the future of robotic exploration on the Moon (and beyond). This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 38 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and eight anonymous—and 176 other supporters on Patreon. CubeRover CubeRover (@CubeRover) | Twitter Home | Astrobotic Astrobotic (@astrobotic) | Twitter Homepage - CMU - Carnegie Mellon University - CMU - Carnegie Mellon University Daily Planet | Science News and Video Clips | Discovery This is CubeRover - YouTube Email your thoughts and comments 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 e

Rocket Lab announced that they’re in the final selection stage of their search for a US launch site. I break down the options they have, and discuss why I think they’ll pick Wallops Island. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, and seven anonymous—and 173 other supporters on Patreon. Rocket Lab to expand launch capability with US launch site | Rocket Lab Rocket Lab selects four finalists for U.S. launch site - SpaceNews.com Space Access from MARS Next space station resupply launch scheduled May 20 at Wallops Island | Virginia | roanoke.com Email your thoughts and comments 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, TuneI

Big news this week: SpaceX won an EELV contract for Falcon Heavy. I talk through what this means for the US launch market, how SpaceX and Falcon Heavy are set up to compete for the next few years. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, and seven anonymous—and 175 other supporters on Patreon. Air Force Certifies Falcon Heavy, Awards SpaceX AFSPC-52 Launch - Main Engine Cut Off U.S. Department of Defense - Contracts for June 21, 2018 Capabilities & Services | SpaceX RocketBuilder Air Force awards big launch contracts to SpaceX and ULA - SpaceNews.com Episode T+72: SpaceX’s Motivation for Falcon Heavy - Main Engine Cut Off Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Ap

ESA has all but given its full support to the (newly renamed) Lunar Gateway, and Terry Virts threw some criticism its way during the third meeting of the National Space Council. I break down what those things mean for the future of Lunar Gateway, and discuss why I’m (gasp!) supportive of the program. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, and seven anonymous—and 174 other supporters on Patreon. A milestone in securing ESA’s future role in the global exploration of space / Exploration / Human Spaceflight / Our Activities / ESA Meeting of the National Space Council - YouTube Op-ed: The Deep Space Gateway would shackle human exploration, not enable it | Ars Technica Former astronaut criticizes lunar gateway plans - SpaceNews.com Off-Nominal 09 - Randomly Throwing Money Out Into

Last week, China opened up their future space station to other nations, and Blue Origin laid some hints about their lunar ambitions. Both of these stories are indicative of what I think the next era of exploration will look like, and it has interesting implications for NASA. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 36 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, David, Mints, and seven anonymous—and 166 other supporters on Patreon. Off-Nominal Studios East - Main Engine Cut Off Why China is opening its space station to international partners Bezos outlines vision of Blue Origin’s lunar future - SpaceNews.com NASA Selects US Companies to Advance Space Resource Collection | NASA Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcas

Two events worth discussing happened while I was on vacation—the first Block 5 Falcon 9 took flight, and ULA selected RL10 for Centaur V. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, Stan, Mike, and six anonymous—and 164 other supporters on Patreon. Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Mission | SpaceX SpaceX launches Bangladeshi satellite on debut Block 5 Falcon 9 mission - SpaceNews.com RL10 Engine to Power ULA’s New Vulcan Centaur Upper Stage | Aerojet Rocketdyne ULA selects Aerojet to provide Vulcan upper stage engine - SpaceNews.com Episode T+63: Centaur V, BFR Updates - Main Engine Cut Off Email your thoughts and comments 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, Tune

Jon Goff of Altius Space Machines joins me to talk about how he got to where he is today and what’s ahead for Altius—including satellite servicing with Bulldog, propellant depots, cryo couplers, and wet labs. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 31 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, and six anonymous—and 161 other supporters on Patreon. Jonathan A. Goff (@rocketrepreneur) | Twitter Selenian Boondocks | Random Musings from the Warped Minds of Jonathan Goff, Ken Murphy, John Hare, and Kirk Sorensen Jonathan Goff | Selenian Boondocks Altius Space Machines, Inc. AltiusSpaceMachines (@AltiusSpace) | Twitter Cryo Coupler SBIR Phase II Win » Altius Space Machines STARPOST Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overca

Last week, we heard news that the Resource Prospector mission has been cancelled. I spend some time thinking through my initial reactions to the news, and speculate about what the path ahead may hold for lunar development. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 31 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, Barbara, and six anonymous—and 161 other supporters on Patreon. NASA scraps a lunar surface mission — just as it’s supposed to focus on a Moon return - The Verge NASA emphasizes commercial lunar lander plans with Resource Prospector cancellation - SpaceNews.com Commercial Lunar Payload Services - CLPS - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google

The DARPA Launch Challenge has been officially unveiled, so I spent some time breaking down the competition and speculating about who will enter and what DARPA wants out of it. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 30 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, Grant, and six anonymous—and 158 other supporters on Patreon. DARPA Launch Challenge Rocket Lab Virgin Orbit Vector Astra Space preparing for suborbital test launch - SpaceNews.com Firefly Aerospace Relativity Space Stratolaunch ARCA | Engineering The Future Email your thoughts and comments 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

Orbital ATK unveiled the name and additional technical details of their new launch vehicle, OmegA. Jim Bridenstine was finally confirmed as the new NASA Administrator. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 29 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Joel, Jan, David, and six anonymous—and 157 other supporters on Patreon. OMEGA: Orbital ATK’s New Large-Class Rocket for U.S. Air Force Bridenstine Confirmed as NASA Administrator On Party-Line Vote - SpacePolicyOnline.com Senate votes to confirm Bridenstine as NASA administrator - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments 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

NASA had some interesting comments on the Lunar Gateway at a recent NASA Advisory Council meeting—the program is eschewing cost-plus contracting, but it’s lacking vision. 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, Joel, and six anonymous—and 153 other supporters on Patreon. Eschewing Cost-Plus, Lacking Vision - Main Engine Cut Off NASA considers acquiring more than one gateway propulsion module - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments 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

Caleb Henry got a great scoop on some changes Blue Origin is making to New Glenn. I think through why these changes may have been made and what these changes could mean for the near future. 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, Joel, and six anonymous—and 150 other supporters on Patreon. Main Engine Cut Off Shop Main Engine Cut Off on Twitter: “

Caleb Henry of SpaceNews returns to talk Satellite 2018, megaconstellations, flat-panel antennas, and the current state of the satellite industry. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 28 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Laszlo, Joel, and six anonymous—and 149 other supporters on Patreon. Caleb Henry (@CHenry_SN) | Twitter Caleb Henry, Author at SpaceNews.com Satellite 2018 LEO and MEO broadband constellations mega source of consternation - SpaceNews.com SoftBank says GEO operators besides Intelsat can sell OneWeb capacity - SpaceNews.com What would it take for SoftBank to invest in SpaceX? - SpaceNews.com OneWeb asks FCC to authorize 1,200 more satellites - SpaceNews.com There’s something strange going on amid the satellite Internet rush | Ars Technica SSL bags Amos-8 and BSAT-4b manufacturing contracts - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@main

A few interesting documents have been released: the late-but-final 2018 appropriations, NASA’s lunar cargo lander request for information, and the public summary of the NASA Independent Review Team’s investigation into the CRS-7 mishap. And a few interesting announcements were made: NASA Acting Administration Robert Lightfoot is going to retire, and the Air Force awarded contracts for another round of EELV Phase 1A launches. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 28 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Laszlo, Joel, and six anonymous—and 147 other supporters on Patreon. Off-Nominal Events NASA Budget To Soar Over $20 Billion in Final FY2018 Appropriations - SpacePolicyOnline.com Acting NASA Administrator Lightfoot Announces Retirement - SpacePolicyOnline.com Lunar Surface Transportation Capability Request for Information (RFI) - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunitie

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot appeared in front of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee to discuss the 2019 NASA budget request, and I’ve got some thoughts on their decisions regarding the SLS Mobile Launcher and how it affects SLS’ flight rate. And then I get off onto a train of thought regarding the stagnation of and opportunity within the policy gridlock we’re stuck in today. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 28 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Jasper, Chris, Warren, Bob, Brian, Russell, John, Moritz, Tyler, Laszlo, Joel, and six anonymous—and 141 other supporters on Patreon. Off-Nominal Events Hearing - An Overview of the NASA Budget for Fiscal Year 2019 - YouTube Safety panel warns of “bottleneck” of reviews for exploration and commercial crew vehicles - SpaceNews.com House members question balance of NASA programs in 2019 budget proposal - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments to ant

NASA recently began talking about some contingency planning for potential Commercial Crew delays, and the end-of-ISS discussion is heating up. 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 135 other supporters on Patreon. NASA’s Continued Focus on Returning U.S. Human Spaceflight Launches - Commercial Crew Program NASA studying commercial crew contingency plans - SpaceNews.com How the private space industry could take over lower Earth orbit — and make money off it - The Verge Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Listen to MECO Headlines Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, 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 Sh