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 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 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.
Thanks to October Patrons
Very special thanks to the 224 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon for the month of October. Your support keeps this blog and podcast going, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
Linkspace’s Forced Perspective
Linkspace is interesting to follow along with, and I’m excited to see how they do with their bigger hardware. But check out the photo in the article—they consistently use forced perspective like this to make their hardware look enormous.
Maxar Looking to Sell SSL
Tough times for SSL, but it’ll be incredibly interesting to see who scoops them up.
Episode T+99: October Q&A
This month, I take on questions about small launch, future space ventures, and the Boeing/SLS saga/drama.
Episode T+98: Gateway Logistics Services
NASA released a request for information this week about cargo services to the Gateway—big news for the future of NASA and the Gateway. I break down the technical and non-technical bits of that announcement, as well as some updates on Space Force and the Soyuz situation.
First Vulcan Certification Flight Delayed to 2021
I said this at the time, but I expected this news alongside either the BE-4 or Air Force selection announcements. Burying bad news with good news is always a solid plan, and I can’t imagine something has changed drastically in the last few weeks on the Vulcan front.