Andrew Rush returns to the show to talk about his new venture, Star Catcher. They are working to build an energy grid in space, beaming energy directly to existing solar panels on satellites in LEO. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 31 executive producers—Steve, Kris, Theo and Violet, Warren, Ryan, Josh from Impulse, Better Every Day Studios, Lee, Jan, Harrison, Fred, Matt, Donald, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Pat, The Astrogators at SEE, Stealth Julian, Joonas, Russell, David, Pat from KC, Will and Lars from Agile, Bob, Joel, Frank, and four anonymous—and 821 oth ..read more

NASA announced their intent to cancel VIPER, the rover that was due to go to the Moon on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, after severe schedule and cost growth. SpaceX had a rare failure of Falcon 9 that has led to a (seemingly short) grounding of the vehicle. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 31 executive producers—Frank, Donald, Fred, Bob, Steve, Matt, Will and Lars from Agile, Lee, Pat from KC, Better Every Day Studios, The Astrogators at SEE, Joonas, Warren, Jan, Russell, Pat, Josh from Impulse, Joel, David, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Kris, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Ever ..read more

A few weeks ago, we talked about Redwire’s SabreSat spacecraft, and today we’re talking about their Europe-based Phantom spacecraft. We talk about the spacecraft platform itself, how the different parts of Redwire work together, VLEO and its use cases, and how to fly satellites through little bits of atmosphere. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Warren, Russell, Joonas, Stealth Julian, Pat from KC, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Benjamin, Tyler, Harrison, Lee, Steve, Theo and Violet, Jan, Matt, David, Bob, Ryan, Donal ..read more

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 Astrogators at SEE, Warren, Russell, Joonas, Stealth Julian, Pat from KC, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Benjamin, Tyler, Harrison, Lee, Steve, Theo and Violet, Jan, Matt, David, Bob, Ryan, Donald, Pat, Kris, Josh from Impulse Space, Better Every Day ..read more

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 discuss the program, VLEO generally, and to dive into the technical and operational details of SabreSat. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Josh from Impulse Space, Benjamin, Pat, Steve, Lee, Ryan, Pat from K ..read more

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, Theo and Violet, Better Every Day Studios, Joonas, Harrison, Pat from KC, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Frank, Josh from Impulse Space, Stealth Julian, SmallSpark Space Systems, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Tyler, Bob, Fred, Donald, Warren ..read more

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, Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Pat from KC, Theo and Violet, Joonas, Better Every Day Studios, Pat, David, Fred, The Astrogators at SEE, Matt, Tyler, Kris, Joel, Benjamin, Steve, Frank, SmallSpark Space Systems, and four anonymous—and 817 o ..read more

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, Fred, Warren, Josh from Impulse Space, Bob, Jan, Kris, Russell, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), David, Harrison, Steve, Matt, Will and Lars from Agile Space, Joonas, Theo and Violet, Stealth Julian, Tyler, Frank, Pat from KC ..read more

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, Benjamin, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Russell, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile Space, The Astrogators at SEE, Matt, Bob, Kris, Harrison, David, Frank, Tyler, Jan, Steve, Joel, Theo and Violet, Pat, SmallSpark Space Systems, Joonas, Better Every Day Studi ..read more

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 brought to you by 33 executive producers—Kris, Better Every Day Studios, Tyler, Joel, Fred, Harrison, Benjamin, Donald, Lee, Russell, Warren, Pat from KC, Matt, Bob, Ryan, Josh from Impulse Space, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Pat, The Astroga ..read more