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00:33:28

T+340: Starliner’s Future and the Demand Signal

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2026/09/29

NASA and Boeing laid out Starliner’s return-to-flight plan as SpaceX prepares to leave Dragon behind. I talk through the weak demand signal for crewed flight in LEO, how NASA’s commitment to the ISS and commercial stations boxed themselves into this decision, and what to do between here and the Moon.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Theo and Violet, Miles O’Brien, Joakim, Steve, Warren, Joel, Frank, Joonas, Natasha Tsakos, Will and Lars from Agile,

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00:35:57

T+339: Starbase Louisiana, the Falcon Fade, and the...

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2026/08/28

SpaceX officially announced Starbase Louisiana, and I break down why the site fits Starship’s launch, landing, and orbital architecture so perfectly. I also look at the transition from Falcon to Starship, and the new launch vehicles on the verge of debut.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Warren, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Donald, David, Matt, Joonas, Russell, Steve, Frank, Will and Lars

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00:48:25

T+338: Zhuque-3, Long March 10B, Chang’e-7 (with...

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2026/08/27

Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—the landings of Zhuque-3 and Long March 10B first stages, Chang’e-7 and its delay, and more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Joakim, Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joonas, Josh from Impulse, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Miles O’Brien, Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Warren, Russell, Stealth Julian, Kris, The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet,

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00:48:25

T+337: Inversion Space (with Justin Fiaschetti,...

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2026/08/04

Justin Fiaschetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Inversion Space, joins me to talk about the company’s plan to store maneuverable reentry vehicles in orbit for rapid cargo delivery, the design and architecture decisions driving Arc including cross-range requirements and payload accomodations, and how they see the market for these services.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Russell, Fred, Natasha Tsakos, Matt, Joonas, Matt from Built, Josh from Impulse, Pat,

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00:24:31

T+336: Rocket Lab Buys Iridium, New Glenn’s Pad...

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2026/07/02

Rocket Lab is buying Iridium for $8 billion, Blue Origin has a new plan to get New Glenn flying again without rebuilding the same pad architecture, and NASA just awarded four new CLPS missions.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Warren, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Donald, David, Matt, Joonas, Russell, Steve, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, The Astrogators at SEE, Josh from Impulse, Fred,

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00:40:37

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

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2026/06/15

Founder and CEO of Auriga Space, Winnie Lai, joins me to talk about their electromagnetic launch infrastructure and the path she sees for Auriga across space and defense markets. And yes, we talk about whether this kind of alternative launch architecture is a good fit for Earth, or a better fit for pretty much every other rock in the solar system.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Ryan, Matt from Built, Russell, Joel, David, Kris, Joakim, Fred,

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00:43:48

T+334: SpaceX the Outlier, and Organization...

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2026/06/09

I often talk about SpaceX being an extreme outlier in the industry and how many organizations have tried to replicate their approach, but very few (if any) have been successful. Matt Gjertsen of Built joins me to share a take on what exactly it is internally that drives their results, how to apply it in other organizations, and to share some perspective on his time at SpaceX leading Training and Development, and from elsewhere in the industry. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you

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00:31:20

T+333: New Glenn Explodes on LC-36, Starship Flight...

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2026/05/29

Blue Origin’s New Glenn blew up on LC-36 last night during a static fire test, Starship flew its 12th flight, and NASA had a series of updates on its Moon Base program, including LTV awards, launch and landing contracts, and a somewhat unexplained branding exercise.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Kris, David, Miles O’Brien, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Jan, Donald, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian,

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00:37:01

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

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2026/05/26

Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has joined Quantum Space as CEO. We talk about what the company is working on, the Ranger spacecraft, how they fit into the industry, where he sees their market going, and what it’s like to be a former NASA Administrator running a company in the industry. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Fred, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), David, Steve, Kris, Stealth Julian, Will and Lars

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00:44:13

T+331: Checking in on K2 (with Neel Kunjur,...

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2026/05/19

Neel Kunjur, Co-Founder and CTO of K2 Space, joins me to talk about their hardware in space today, how their vision and plans have evolved over the past few years, and how industry changes like the push for orbital data centers have impacted their future.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Kris, David, Miles O’Brien, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Jan, Donald, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, The

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00:32:28

T+330: 10 Years of MECO

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2026/04/24

The show turned 10 last Monday, so I thought it would be fun to have our good friend Jake Robins on to look back at where we were then, what’s happened since, and what that teaches us about the future.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Donald, Ryan, Joakim, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, David, Theo and Violet, Lee, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Steve, Russell, Matt,

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00:44:47

T+329: Katalyst Space and the Mission to Boost Swift...

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2026/04/23

Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst Space, joins me to talk about their upcoming mission to boost NASA’s Swift observatory, and how they are approaching in-orbit services differently than those that came before. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Donald, Ryan, Joakim, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, David, Theo and Violet, Lee, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Steve, Russell,

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00:52:22

T+328: Pam Melroy, Former NASA Deputy Administrator...

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2026/04/09

Pam Melroy, Former NASA Deputy Administrator, Space Shuttle Commander, and three-time Shuttle astronaut, joins me to talk about space policy past, present, and future. We talk about the most critical decisions and moments during her time as Deputy Administrator under Administrator Bill Nelson, and her thoughts on the Isaacman-era space policy from Ignition to Commercial LEO, and what to do about Mars Sample Return.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive

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01:22:27

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

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2026/04/07

Artemis II completed their lunar flyby yesterday, and it was epic on all levels. Paul Fjeld and I discuss that and many other topics related to Artemis, Apollo, and human spaceflight.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Will and Lars from Agile, David, Better Every Day Studios, Kris, Stealth Julian, Joonas, Russell, Warren, Jan, Natasha Tsakos, Steve, Pat, The Astrogators at SEE, Fred, Donald, Miles O’Brien, Matt,

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00:13:30

T+326: Artemis II Underway

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2026/04/02

Artemis II is underway with a spectacular first day.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Donald, Matt, David, Joel, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Natasha Tsakos, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Lee, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Ryan, Warren, The Astrogators at SEE, Pat, Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Steve, Jan, Stealth Julian, Kris, Theo and Violet, Russell, Josh from Impulse, Joonas, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters. Topics NASA's

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00:35:05

T+325: Ignition

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2026/03/31

There was a lot of news in NASA’s Ignition event last week, and I break down what actually matters: not whether Jared Isaacman’s timelines are realistic, but how this new roadmap strips away architectural dependencies and forces the real bottlenecks into the open. I talk through Gateway’s cancellation, the possible path away from SLS and ICPS, what this means for lunar landers and international partners, and why NASA’s new philosophy feels so different from the past. This episode of Main Engine Cut

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00:40:20

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

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2026/03/17

Tom Mueller, Founder and CEO of Impulse Space, joins me to catch up on the company’s progress and plans—3 Mira missions flown, Helios soon to fly, $525M raised, new defense contracts, a lunar lander concept, and a new Colorado facility.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Joel, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Warren, Steve, Ryan, Will and Lars from Agile, Natasha Tsakos, Russell, Joakim, Theo and Violet, The Astrogators at SEE, Matt, Lee, Donald,

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00:30:21

T+323: The Artemis Roadmap Shakeup

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2026/02/27

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a sweeping roadmap change to the Artemis program this morning—seemingly cancelling the EUS, Gateway, and all SLS upgrades, and instead pursuing the once-and-future annual launch cadence of SLS.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—David, Russell, Pat, Better Every Day Studios, Joonas, Josh from Impulse, Theo and Violet, Steve, Jan, Will and Lars from Agile, Miles O’Brien, Kris, Fred, Stealth Julian, Frank, Joakim,

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00:40:44

T+322: SpaceX Acquires xAI as it Prepares for IPO,...

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2026/02/06

Loren Grush, of Bloomberg, joins me to talk about SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, its preparation for a potential IPO, Blue Origin’s cancellation of New Shepard and their recent momentum, and the delay to Artemis II following its first wet dress rehearsal.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—David, Natasha Tsakos, Stealth Julian, Warren, Joakim, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Miles O’Brien, Pat, Better Every Day Studios, Will and Lars from Agile, The

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00:31:04

T+321: Artemis II, New Glenn’s First Reflight, Blue...

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2026/01/23

Artemis II is on the pad, and I can’t stop thinking about it. So I guess listen to me think in the open? Also, a ton of Blue Origin news—the next flight of New Glenn will feature a flown booster, they’ve announced constellation plans under the name TeraWave, and Tory Bruno has left ULA to join the team at Blue.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 33 executive producers—Matt, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Kris, Lee, Jan, Frank, Miles O’Brien, Josh from Impulse, Theo and Violet,

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