The Mystery of NROL-71
Dr. Marco Langbroek wrote an intriguing post about the upcoming NROL-71 payload.
OneWeb Downsizes Initial Deployment
Sounds like they are delaying 300 satellites, not specifically downsizing the entire constellation.
Amateur Observers Hear From Chang’e 4
The one mystery they’re still working to solve: it appears as if Chang’e 4 is 90° out of the expected plane.
SpaceShipTwo Reaches Space
I find Jonathan McDowell’s paper convincing, and I’ve always loved the X-15, so in the spirit of consistency, yes, SpaceShipTwo reached space today on its flight to 82.7 kilometers.
Amateur Observers Searching for Chang’e 4 Find Nothing
Scott Tilley leaves us with a few theories towards the end of the post, but this doesn’t seem like a good sign.
Boeing Cancels Global IP Satellite Order
An update on this strange saga: Boeing backed out due to Global IP being behind on their payments. That’s almost certainly a half-truth at best, and it’s not a good look to say something to the effect of “We would have continued to take their money if they had any.”
Episode T+104: Jake Robins
Jake Robins of WeMartians joins me to talk InSight, Mars EDL, and Mars 2020.
Thanks to November Patrons
Very special thanks to the 232 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon for the month of November. MECO is entirely listener- and reader-supported, so your support keeps this blog and podcast going, growing, and improving, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
The Saga of Boeing, Global IP, and China
This story is so crazy that it nearly sounds like an entrapment scheme—not that something like that has happened before.
Inmarsat Signs On As First Commercial Customer for H3
The 2020/2021 New Launch Vehicle sales cycle continues—New Glenn, Ariane 6, and now H3 all have commercial customers. Still waiting on those first Vulcan and Omega contracts.
New COPVs in Liquid Oxygen, New Booster in Liquid Water
They are in need of a good example of their flight safety procedures, and while the event will surely be used by some to criticize SpaceX and their operations, anyone looking to give an honest assessment of the situation will come away impressed with the flight operations yesterday.
Episode T+103: Commercial Lunar Payload Services
NASA announced the nine companies that will be competing for Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions. I share some thoughts on the program overall, and discuss what we know about each company.
Hague and Ovchinin to Fly on MS-12 in February
Well, that was quick.
Episode T+102: November Q&A
This month for Q&A, we try to figure out what the hell is up with DM-1, hit a few questions about launch, and talk through a few space development topics.
Richard Branson, Who Stopped Giving Dates, Gives Another Date
“We stopped giving dates! Here’s a date!”
Aerojet Rocketdyne Awarded $9.4 Million for AF-M315E Engine Development
This award isn’t a ton of money—especially for Aerojet Rocketdyne—but it’s good to see continued development on this front.
InSight Sticks the Landing, MarCO Comes Through Big
InSight landed with incredible accuracy and just two degrees of tilt, and both MarCO-A and -B relayed all telemetry back to Earth in real time.
Episode 14 - Gary from Lockheed (really this time)
Gary Napier joins Jake and Anthony to discuss doing communications for Lockheed Martin, dodging flat-earthers, and Dean Martin.
Episode T+101: Starlink Addendum
As I was recording yesterday’s show about Starlink, SpaceX filed an application with the FCC for some changes to the Starlink plan. I read through the report and it confirms some of what I talked about yesterday, so thought it was worth an update.
Episode T+100: Midterms, and a Thought on Starlink
I share some space-focused takeaways from the US midterm elections and a thought that I had about recent Starlink reports.