Thanks to January Patrons
Very special thanks to the 144 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon for the month of January. Your support keeps this blog and podcast going, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
Episode T+71: Commercial Crew, Congress, and the GAO
The Commercial Crew program—NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, and more—went in front of Congress to discuss the current status of the crew launch systems in development. Concurrently, the GAO released a report warning that more delays are likely, and could put NASA in a tough spot. I share some thoughts on the matter and talk through what is likely to happen this year.
NASA’s Launch Vehicle “Stable Configuration” Double Standard
This requirement grew out of concerns about SpaceX and how frequently they update the design of Falcon 9. And from where NASA stands, it’s a totally valid concern and requirement. The problem is that it has very blatantly only ever been applied to SpaceX.
Stacking Mission Extension Vehicles
Really interesting technical note on how Orbital ATK’s Mission Extension Vehicles stack with other satellites in an article by Caleb Henry of SpaceNews.
Episode T+70: Polar Launches from Cape Canaveral
The US Air Force has developed a viable corridor for launching to polar and other high-inclination orbits from Cape Canaveral. I spend some time thinking through who may be interested in using that corridor and what its existence could mean for the newer launch vehicles in development.
Polar XS-1 Launches
In thinking through who may launch to high-inclination orbits from the Cape, I totally forgot about DARPA’s XS-1 that will be based out of Cape Canaveral. I would be surprised if there weren’t plans to launch XS-1 from Vandenberg, but as of yet, we haven’t heard anything. Maybe the Department of Defense had XS-1 in mind when developing a polar corridor from Cape Canaveral?
Episode 04 - In The Year of Our Lord Steve Squyres
Jake and Anthony drink a beer that has been to space, discuss the recently-announced New Frontiers finalists, and propose their own flagship-class missions. Huge thanks to Ninkasi Brewing Company for powering this episode!
Episode 04 - In The Year of Our Lord Steve Squyres
Jake and Anthony drink a beer that has been to space, discuss the recently-announced New Frontiers finalists, and propose their own flagship-class missions. Huge thanks to Ninkasi Brewing Company for powering this episode!
Episode 04 - In The Year of Our Lord Steve Squyres
Jake and Anthony drink a beer that has been to space, discuss the recently-announced New Frontiers finalists, and propose their own flagship-class missions. Huge thanks to Ninkasi Brewing Company for powering this episode!
Dr. Marco Langbroek on ZUMA
A fantastic, must-read post with photos, maps, and analysis of the ZUMA situation. Dr. Langbroek is just about the only person I’ll be following with regards to ZUMA.
Off-Nominal 04: In The Year of Our Lord Steve Squyres
Best episode of Off-Nominal yet: Jake and I talk New Frontiers and drink extraordinarily tasty beer that has been to space. Massive thanks to Ninkasi Brewing Company for fueling this episode!
Mars’ Seasonal Methane Cycles
Fascinating piece by Eric Hand, for Science.
Orbital ATK Signs Cooperative Agreement with U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center
Plans could change, obviously, but the last bit there seems to confirm that Orbital ATK is only going to build this launch vehicle if they are awarded funding from the Air Force in the upcoming Launch Services Agreements.
Intelsat Orders MEV-2 from Orbital ATK
Someone over at Intelsat has been doing a lot of math, and it looks like Orbital ATK was serious—the business case closes.
ZUMA, USA 276, and ISS
ZUMA has been wrapped up in the mystery surrounding USA 276 and the ISS since last November, when Marco Langbroek found that its launch window and trajectory lined up very closely to their orbits. After a few delays (with little insight into their causes, much like the launch of USA 276…), things seem to be lining up again.
Canaveral’s Polar Express
This will only get really interesting when someone books a launch to use such a path, and any thoughts of consolidating all US launch infrastructure to a single location are nonsensical, but the possibility does enable some fun discussions for those working on Falcon Heavy and New Glenn, specifically.
William Roper Nominated as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition
Good choice, but one person does not a policy make. There is a lot to overcome within the Air Force, organizationally.
SpaceX Leases Another Canaveral Facility for Dragon 2 Processing
The language used here is imprecise, so it’s tough to draw conclusions, but “summer” implies a slip for the uncrewed test flight of Dragon 2, currently scheduled for April.
Thanks to December Patrons
Very special thanks to the 135 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon for the month of December, and for all of 2017. Your support keeps this blog and podcast going, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
Episode T+69: Robin Seemangal
Robin Seemangal joins me for a free-flowing discussion on the stories we found most important in 2017 and what we’re looking forward to in 2018, including SpaceX’s huge year, Blue Origin’s under-the-radar work to lay foundations for their future, SLS’ rough year, and—what else?—Falcon Heavy.