Main Engine Cut Off cover art

All Episodes

Main Engine Cut Off — 336 episodes

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Title
1

T+335: Auriga Space (with Winnie Lai, Founder and CEO)

2

T+334: SpaceX the Outlier, and Organization Leadership (with Matt Gjertsen)

3

T+333: New Glenn Explodes on LC-36, Starship Flight 12, and NASA Moon Base Updates

4

T+332: Quantum Space (with Jim Bridenstine, CEO)

5

T+331: Checking in on K2 (with Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO)

6

T+330: 10 Years of MECO

7

T+329: Katalyst Space and the Mission to Boost Swift (with Ghonhee Lee, Founder and CEO)

8

T+328: Pam Melroy, Former NASA Deputy Administrator and Space Shuttle Commander

9

T+327: Artemis II, the Lunar Flyby Edition (with Paul Fjeld)

10

T+326: Artemis II Underway

11

T+325: Ignition

12

T+324: Impulse Space (with Tom Mueller, Founder and CEO)

13

T+323: The Artemis Roadmap Shakeup

14

T+322: SpaceX Acquires xAI as it Prepares for IPO, Blue Origin Cancels New Shepard, and Artemis II Delayed (with Loren Grush)

15

T+321: Artemis II, New Glenn’s First Reflight, Blue Origin’s TeraWave, and Tory Bruno’s Job Switch

16

T+320: NASA’s FY2026 Budget, the Isaacman Era, and the Eve of Artemis II (with Casey Dreier)

17

T+319: Headlines, December 22, 2025

18

T+318: General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force

19

T+317: Isaacman Renomination Hearing, Starliner Flights Cut, Starship at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 Almost Sticks the Landing, and More (with Stephen Clark)

20

T+316: New Glenn’s Second Launch, First Landing, and Upgrade Roadmap

21

T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros)

22

T+314: Jockeying for the Artemis 3 Lander, and the NASA Administrator Position

23

T+313: Starlink, Kuiper, Project Bromo, and More (with Caleb Henry)

24

T+312: Starship Flight 11, Space Policy, and Priorities (with Miles O’Brien)

25

T+311: Phil McAlister on Commercial LEO and NASA’s Human Spaceflight Budget

26

T+310: NASA’s “Prove It” Era

27

T+309: EchoStar’s Spectrum Sale, Starlink’s Financials (with Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space)

28

T+308: Chatting with Casey Handmer

29

T+307: Executive Order on Regulatory Reform (with Tom Marotta)

30

T+306: Lunar Outpost (with Michael Moreno, VP of Strategy)

31

T+305: The Starship 36 Explosion, and ESA Policy (with Adrian Beil, NASASpaceflight)

32

T+304: The Musk/Trump Breakup, Jared Isaacman’s Withdrawn Nomination, and Starship Flight 9 (with Lori Garver)

33

T+303: The Trump 2024 Transition (with Mark Albrecht)

34

T+302: A Tour of Marotta Controls

35

T+301: Hypersonics and Constellations (with Caleb Henry)

36

T+300: Isaacman’s Confirmation Hearing, NASA and NOAA Budgets, NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 Awards

37

T+299: Starliner, According to Butch and Suni (with Eric Berger)

38

T+298: Eric Schmidt Takes Over at Relativity, Rocket Lab Plans Mynaric Acquisition

39

T+297: Firefly Blue Ghost 1, Intuitive Machines IM-2, SpaceX Starship Flight 8 (with Josh Dinner)

40

T+296: Jim Bridenstine on Space Policy

41

T+295: The Economics of Space (with Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau)

42

T+294: Elon Musk and the Trump Administration, Potential SLS Cancellation (with Eric Berger)

43

T+293: Jonathan’s Space Report Library Transition (with Jonathan McDowell)

44

T+292: New Glenn Flight 1, Starship Flight 7

45

T+291: Axiom Updates Station Plans, Firefly Wins Another CLPS Mission

46

T+290: Jared Isaacman Nominated NASA Administrator

47

T+289: Starship Flight 6, ABL’s Pivot, NS-26 (Headlines Preview)

48

T+288: The Return of President Trump

49

T+287: Polaris Dawn (with Jared Isaacman)

50

T+286: Starship Flight 5

51

T+285: The Public Dispute Between SpaceX and the FAA

52

T+284: Stoke Space (with Andy Lapsa, CEO)

53

T+283: Starliner, Fram2, VIPER, Blue Moon (with Jeff Foust)

54

T+282: Space Policy and Presidential Transitions (with Mark Albrecht)

55

T+281: Star Catcher (with Andrew Rush, President & CEO)

56

T+280: VIPER Cancelled, Falcon 9 Grounded

57

T+279: Phantom and VLEO (with JP Ramos, Business Development Manager at Redwire)

58

T+278: Firefly Alpha’s New Launch Sites, ISS News Blitz (Deorbit Vehicle, Collins Spacesuits, and Starliner)

59

T+277: SabreSat, VLEO, and DARPA’s Otter Program (with Spence Wise, SVP of Missions and Platforms at Redwire)

60

T+276: Mars Sample Return Studies, NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Selections

61

T+275: Starliner’s First Crew, Starship’s Fourth Flight

62

T+274: The Vulcan and Artemis Roadmaps

63

T+273: Mars Sample Return

64

T+272: Moon Rovers, Space Stations, and Starships

65

T+271: Checking in on the Chinese Space Industry (with Andrew Jones)

66

T+270: K2 Space (with Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO)

67

T+269: IM-1 and Beyond (with Tim Crain, Co-Founder and CTO of Intuitive Machines)

68

T+268: IM-1, CLPS, NASA Budget (with Eric Berger)

69

T+267: Vulcan, New Glenn, Peregrine, Artemis

70

T+266: Alex Fielding, CEO and Chairman, Privateer

71

T+265: Headlines, featuring Starship IFT-2, Dragonfly, and Ariane 6

72

T+264: ESA’s Interest in Space Stations, Virgin Galactic Bails on VSS Unity

73

T+263: Space Policy Roundup (with Marcia Smith)

74

T+262: Printing a Meniscus in the BioFabrication Facility (with Dr. Molly Mulligan and Dr. Ken Savin of Redwire)

75

T+261: Agile Space (with CEO Chris Pearson and Chief Engineer Lars Osborne)

76

T+260: Northrop Grumman Changes Plans, Starlab, Orbital Reef, and Leadership Changes

77

T+259: Tom Marotta, The Spaceport Company

78

T+258: The Six, by Loren Grush (Off-Nominal 123 - An Exciting Time)

79

T+257: Chandrayaan-3, Luna-25, and the Deep Space Network (with Scott Tilley)

80

T+256: The Kuiper Logjam

81

T+255: NSSL Phase 3 Addendum

82

T+254: Mars Sample Return, Vulcan, NSSL Phase 3 (with Eric Berger)

83

T+253: The German and European Launch Industry (with Adrian Beil)

84

T+252: NASA Selects Blue Moon for a Second Lunar Lander, But is Facing a Grim Budget Reality

85

T+251: Finance and Business Strategy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

86

T+250: LEO and Lunar Commercialization (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

87

T+249: Space Symposium Round Up Plus Drop-In Guests (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

88

T+248: Space Policy (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

89

T+247: International Partnerships (Live from Space Symposium 2023)

90

T+246: Starship’s First Test Flight (with Jake Robins)

91

T+245: Relativity Redesigns, Pivots to Terran R

92

T+244: Dawn Aerospace’s Rocket-Powered Mk-II Aurora Takes Flight (with Stefan Powell, CEO)

93

T+243: Live Show Announcement! Plus Virgin Orbit Nears the End, While Relativity Flies Terran 1

94

T+242: NASA’s FY2024 Budget Request (with Casey Dreier)

95

T+241: ULA on the Market

96

T+240: NSSL Phase 3, and a New Glenn Check In

97

T+239: Space Policy with Lori Garver

98

T+238: Rocket Lab Flies from Wallops Island (with Caleb Henry)

99

T+237: Virgin Orbit and ABL Suffer Failures

100

T+236: SpaceX Starshield, NSSL Phase 3

101

T+235: Artemis I, 2022 Midterms (with Casey Dreier)

102

T+234: Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon of Polaris Dawn

103

T+233: Jared Isaacman, Polaris Program

104

T+232: A Visit to Astrobotic

105

T+231: The Future of Private Astronaut Missions to the ISS

106

T+230: Bob Pearce, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

107

T+229: Space Insurance (with Richard Parker and John Farnsworth)

108

T+228: Artemis I, Act I

109

T+227: Astrobee, Free-Flying Robots on the ISS (with Jonathan Barlow)

110

T+226: Northrop Grumman and Firefly Partner on Antares

111

T+225: Astrogation with Space Exploration Engineering

112

T+224: Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Space Station, with Rick Mastracchio (Director Of Business Development)

113

T+223: Viper Delayed, Masten Unravels, CLPS Moves On

114

T+222: Rogozin Out, Seat Exchange Signed

115

T+221: Psyche Misses Its Launch Window, SIMPLEx Missions Struggle to Find Theirs (with Jake Robins)

116

T+220: Artemis Architecture (with Eric Berger)

117

T+219: Starship Launch Plan Clears FAA Environmental Review, with Mitigations Required

118

T+218: Starliner Flies, Dragon Gets More Flights

119

T+217: Artemis Accords, with Mike Gold

120

T+216: Orbital Reef, with Brent Sherwood (SVP of Advanced Development Programs at Blue Origin)

121

T+215: CAPSTONE, with Brad Cheetham, CEO of Advanced Space

122

T+214: Andrew Maximov, Founder of Precious Payload

123

T+213: Amazon’s Project Kuiper Launch Contract Blockbuster

124

T+212: NASA’s Budget, Commercial LEO, and the Sustaining Lunar Development Contract

125

T+211: Political and Industrial Fallout of the War

126

T+210: Ukraine, Russia, and the Space Industry (with Debra Werner)

127

T+209: Off-Nominal 50 (with Michael Sheetz and Eric Berger)

128

T+208: The Polaris Program

129

T+207: 2022 Preview, Predictions, and Things to Watch (with Eric Berger)

130

T+206: Going Independent

131

T+205: Phil McAlister, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA

132

T+204: ISS Port Management (with Bill Spetch of NASA)

133

T+203: Starlab with Marshall Smith, SVP of Space Systems at Nanoracks

134

T+202: The Geopolitics of ASAT Weapons and Space Debris (with Brian Weeden)

135

T+201: Russia’s Reckless and Awful Anti-Satellite Operation

136

T+200: Orbital Reef, Starlab, and the ISS Conundrum

137

T+199: A Visit to the NASTAR Center (with Glenn King)

138

T+198: Ryan McDevitt, CEO of Benchmark Space Systems

139

T+197: NASA’s Human Spaceflight Directorate Shakeup

140

T+196: Checking In on Small Launch with Firefly Alpha, Astra LV0006

141

T+195: Blue Origin’s Project Jarvis, Suborbital Flights, and Nauka Fallout (with Eric Berger)

142

T+194: Branson & Bezos Fly To Space

143

T+193: Marcia Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com

144

T+192: iROSA with Matt LaPointe and Andrew Rush

145

T+191: Phil Bracken, VP of Engineering at Spaceflight

146

T+190: Brock Howe, Nanoracks Bishop Airlock Program Manager

147

T+189: Stephen Forbes, DARPA Blackjack Program Manager

148

T+188: Starship SN15, and the HLS Protests

149

T+187: Eric Berger on Artemis, Starship, Amazon’s Atlas V Rides, and the State of Blue Origin

150

T+186: NASA Selects Starship as Artemis Lander

151

T+185: Bill Nelson Nominated as NASA Administrator

152

T+184: Jake Robins on the 2021 Mars Fleet and Future Exploration

153

T+183: Peter Beck on Neutron, Going Public, and Eating Hats

154

T+182: Rocket Lab Neutron, Relativity Terran R

155

T+181: Falcon 9 Fleet, ABL in the UK, Firefly to the Moon

156

T+180: Christian Davenport, The Washington Post, on the SLS Green Run, Axiom Ax-1, Virgin Orbit

157

T+179: Meagan Crawford, SpaceFund

158

T+178: Andrew Jones, on China’s Chang’e-5, 2021 Plans, and More

159

T+177: NASA VCLS 2, Relativity, Astra, and Firefly

160

T+176: The Flight of Starship SN8

161

T+175: Delays

162

T+174: SpaceX Crew-1 Kicks Off New Era for ISS

163

T+173: Headlines

164

T+172: Lunar Politics

165

T+171: SpaceX, L3Harris Selected by SDA for Missile Warning Satellites

166

T+170: Catching Up on the News

167

T+169: Commercial Small Launcher Updates

168

T+168: SpaceX and ULA Win NSSL Phase 2

169

T+167: Phillip Hargrove, NASA Launch Services Program

170

T+166: Laura Klicker and Daniel Gillies, Astrobotic

171

T+165: Caleb Henry on the OneWeb Acquisition, Starlink Antennas, C-Band Drama, and More

172

T+164: An Announcement, and a Check-in on International Space Policy and NSSL Phase 2

173

T+163: Suborbital Crew, Virgin Galactic to ISS

174

T+162: Grant Bonin, SVP of Business Development at Spaceflight

175

T+161: Mark Wiese, Manager of NASA’s Gateway Deep Space Logistics

176

T+160: Lueders Leads HEO, Northrop Grumman Awarded HALO Contract

177

T+159: SpaceX Demo-2 Carries Crew to ISS

178

T+158: Doug Loverro Resigns, and a Bit About the Artemis Accords

179

T+157: Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX Win NASA Lunar Lander Contracts

180

T+156: Sean Mahoney, CEO of Masten Space Systems

181

T+155: Peter Beck on the Pandemic’s Effect on the Industry and Rocket Lab’s Busy Few Months

182

T+154: Tim Ellis, CEO and Cofounder of Relativity

183

T+153: Boeing to Refly Starliner Uncrewed Test, While SpaceX Crew Plans Firm Up

184

T+152: SpaceX’s Dragon XL Wins Gateway Logistics Services Contract

185

T+151: Northrop Grumman, Satellite Servicing, and DARPA’s RSGS

186

T+150: SpaceX Signs Crew Flight Agreements with Axiom, Space Adventures

187

T+149: Let’s Talk About Starship with Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut

188

T+148: Gerst to SpaceX, and Why Landing is Part of Mission Success

189

T+147: Mike Suffredini, President & CEO of Axiom

190

T+146: Loren Grush on Commercial Crew, Starlink, NASA Authorization, and More

191

T+145: Caleb Henry

192

T+144: 2019 Impacts

193

T+143: Starliner, 2020 US Space Budget

194

T+142: T.S. Kelso, CelesTrak and AGI

195

T+141: Dylan Taylor, Voyager Space Holdings

196

T+140: Launch Protests and Lander Hopefuls

197

T+139: RemoveDEBRIS with Richard Duke

198

T+138: Peter Beck, Founder of Rocket Lab

199

T+137: Artemis Politics, United Lander Alliance

200

T+136: Starship to GTO, SSO from Florida

201

T+135: Jake Robins on Starship

202

T+134: Headlines (with news on Orion, NEOCam, and more)

203

T+133: Kurt Klaus on CLPS

204

T+132: SpaceX SmallSat Updates

205

T+131: Andrew Rush, CEO of Made in Space

206

T+130: SmallSat Launch Roundup

207

T+129: Steve Altemus and Dr. Tim Crain, Intuitive Machines

208

T+128: NASA Shuffles CLPS, Partners on Blue Moon and Starship

209

T+127: Gateway Habitat, Starhopper, and ABL Space Systems

210

T+126: The NASA Ousters

211

T+125: Andrew Jones

212

T+124: Gateway Logistics Services, FY2020 NDAA, and Small GEO Satellites

213

T+123: The Noosphere of Influence

214

T+122: National Security SpaceX Lawsuit

215

T+121: Artemis, Blue Moon, Starship, and Politics

216

T+120: Dr. Mike Baine, Axiom Space

217

T+119: Dr. John Charles

218

T+118: Rapid Agile Launch Initiative

219

T+117: Q&A

220

T+116: On the Moon by 2024

221

T+115: Caleb Henry

222

T+114: EM-1 Hot Drama with Eric Berger

223

T+113: Q&A

224

T+112: SLC-20, SPD-4, and a Soyuz Soapbox

225

T+111: SpaceX, the Established Launch Provider

226

T+110: Starship, New Glenn, and RS1 Updates

227

T+109: Q&A

228

T+108: Layoffs and Launch Sites

229

T+107: Chris Gebhardt

230

T+106: Q&A

231

T+105: Jonathan McDowell

232

T+104: Jake Robins

233

T+103: Commercial Lunar Payload Services

234

T+102: November Q&A

235

T+101: Starlink Addendum

236

T+100: Midterms, and a Thought on Starlink

237

T+99: October Q&A

238

T+98: Gateway Logistics Services

239

T+97: SLS OIG Report, Air Force LSA Awards

240

T+96: Blue Origin & Harris

241

T+95: September Q&A

242

T+94: #dearMoon

243

T+93: NASA Goddard and Restore-L

244

T+92: Marcia Smith

245

T+91: August Q&A

246

T+90: Andrew Jones

247

T+89: Lockheed’s Small Sat Strategy, NASA Tipping Points Contracts

248

T+88: CubeRover, Michael Provenzano and Andrew Horchler

249

T+87: Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2

250

T+86: Falcon Heavy Wins AFSPC-52

251

T+85: Support and Criticism for the Lunar Gateway

252

T+84: The End of NASA Exploration Exclusivity

253

T+83: Falcon 9 Block 5, RL10 on Centaur V

254

T+82: Jon Goff, Altius Space Machines

255

T+81: Resource Prospector Cancellation

256

T+80: DARPA Launch Challenge

257

T+79: Orbital ATK’s OmegA, NASA’s Bridenstine

258

T+78: No Cost-Plus, But No Vision, Either

259

T+77: Blue Origin Reconfigures New Glenn

260

T+76: Caleb Henry

261

T+75: March Roundup

262

T+74: Stagnation and Opportunity

263

T+73: Commercial Crew Contingency Plans, and the End of ISS

264

T+72: SpaceX’s Motivation for Falcon Heavy

265

T+71: Commercial Crew, Congress, and the GAO

266

T+70: Polar Launches from Cape Canaveral

267

T+69: Robin Seemangal

268

T+68: Mike Lewis, CTO of NanoRacks

269

T+67: Special Preview of MECO Headlines, December 1–8, 2017

270

T+66: A Visit to NanoRacks, and Virgin Orbit Books a Department of Defense Launch

271

T+65: The New GEO Model, Orbital ATK’s Composite Case, Good and Bad SpaceX News

272

T+64: BE-4 Fires Up, and Some Thoughts on the Future of Commercial and Military Launch

273

T+63: Centaur V, BFR Updates

274

T+62: Chris Gebhardt on SpaceX’s BFR 2017 Update

275

T+61: Northrop Grumman Acquires Orbital ATK, Lockheed Martin Unveils New Satellite Family

276

T+60: New Glenn’s Fairing, OneWeb’s Factory

277

T+59: Jake Robins

278

T+58: Totality

279

T+57: Caleb Henry

280

T+56: Small Launchers and Advanced Propulsion

281

T+55: ISS and Beyond

282

T+54: Eric Berger

283

T+53: Loren Grush

284

T+52: XCOR Winds Down, ULA Wins STP-3

285

T+51: The SpaceX Steamroller, Blue Origin Chooses Alabama

286

T+50: Boeing Gets XS-1, SpaceX Gets X-37B

287

T+49: Dr. Thomas Lang

288

T+48: Rand Simberg

289

T+47: Uncrewed EM-1 Delayed to 2019

290

T+46: Eric Berger

291

T+45: 2018 Air Force Launch Vehicle Contracts, and the Dim Future of Antares

292

T+44: SpaceX and the Age of Reusability

293

T+43: March Lightning Round

294

T+42: Blue Origin Introduces New Glenn

295

T+41: EM-1 Follow-up, Dragon 2-Falcon Heavy to the Moon

296

T+40: The Potentially Infamous EM-1 Memo

297

T+39: Opportunities for Private Companies within Government Programs

298

T+38: 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act Speculation

299

T+37: Government Subsidies, Private Capability, and the 2010 National Space Policy

300

T+36: Falcon 9 Flies with New Fueling Procedures, and the NASA-Boeing-Soyuz Saga

301

T+35: NASA Policy Grab Bag

302

T+34: SpaceX’s COPV Investigation and Return to Flight

303

T+33: SpaceX’s Commercial Crew Delay, Fueling Process Approved, and the Inmarsat-Falcon Heavy Situation

304

T+32: Soyuz-U Failure and Satellite Servicing

305

T+31: ULA’s RocketBuilder

306

T+30: SpaceX Nearing Falcon 9 Return-to-Flight

307

T+29: Commercializing the NASA Exploration Roadmap

308

T+28: The Future of NASA and the Moon

309

T+27: Financial vs. Political Capital and Mission Sustainability

310

T+26: OA-5, Antares, and Orbital ATK’s Road Ahead

311

T+25: Falcon 9 Updates and the 10% Discount

312

T+24: ULA’s RapidLaunch and Commercial Market Competitiveness

313

T+23: SpaceX Mars Architecture Initial Reactions

314

T+22: SpaceX Mars Architecture Announcement Preamble

315

T+21: Blue Origin Previews New Glenn

316

T+20: Mike Johnson, Chief Designer at NanoRacks on NanoRacks’ History, NextSTEP, and Wet Workshops

317

T+19: SpaceX’s Manifest, Flight-Proven Hardware, Blue Origin Updates, and Antares’ Engines

318

T+18: Robert Zubrin on Mars Exploration and Colonization Internationally, within NASA, and at SpaceX

319

T+17: NextSTEP Habitat Prototypes, and the Zombie Centaur

320

T+16: Moon Express Licensing, and NASA’s Disdain for Artificial Gravity

321

T+15: More SLS Roadmap Details, and Landed Falcon 9 Static Fires

322

T+14: The Post-EM-1 Roadmap for SLS, and Potential Uses for SpaceX’s BFR

323

T+13: SpaceX’s CRS-9 Success, Senate Hearing Recap, and US-Russian Plans for the Moon

324

T+12: The Competition of Reusability Between Falcon 9, Vulcan, and Ariane 6

325

T+11: SpaceX’s LZ-1 Expansion, Dream Chaser’s UN Ambitions, China and ESA’s Growing Relationship

326

T+10: Logan Kamperschroer on the Current State and Near Future of Storable Propellants

327

T+9: ExoMars 2016 and 2020, Chinese Partnerships and Policy

328

T+8: Masten’s Xodiac and XaeroB, Blue Origin’s Next Flight of New Shepard

329

T+7: Bezos and Musk at Code Conference, and a Hard Look at Vulcan’s Economics

330

T+6: Orbital ATK’s Next-Gen Vehicle, Falcon 9 Proving Its Reusability, and ULA’s Tough Future

331

T+5: Space Stations Around the Moon and Mars, ExoMars 2016, and China’s Momentum in Space

332

T+4: Boeing’s CST-100, SpaceX’s Dragon 2, and a Scorched Falcon 9

333

T+3: Falcon 9 GTO Mission Drone Ship Landing, Orbital ATK’s Current and Future Launch Vehicles

334

T+2: SpaceX’s Red Dragon, Falcon Performance, and the Political Fallout of OA-6

335

T+1: The Near Future of NASA’s Orion and SLS Programs

336

T-0: The Near Future of US-Based Competitors