Main Engine Cut Off

Seems like Orbital ATK’s PR editors removed the next sentence: “We’ll just need that money upfront, instead.”

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It was just a matter of time. I guarantee you those in Le Gall’s camp will think of at least one more step, and we’ll hear about it right after SpaceX’s next step.

Matthew Bodner, for The Moscow Times, reports that 71 engines, mostly for the second and third stages of Proton, require complete overhauls.

James Dean with a great article for Florida Today on SES, SpaceX, and reusability.

A great piece by Chris Bergin and Noel Munson of NASASpaceFlight on the storied histories of launch complexes 11 and 36, and what Blue Origin plans for their future.

Read the whole post over on Masten’s blog. Great to see progress on safer storable propellants and Masten’s lander. There’s also a video from a few months ago of MXP-351 performance testing.

Paywalled article, but the viewable introduction says it all.

We first heard about SpaceX taking over the old SpaceHab buildings back in August, so I guess the building will suit their needs.

SpaceX will be building out quite a bit of real estate on the Cape, as documented in their recent LZ-1 expansion plans.

Jeff Bezos’ most recent email update on Blue Origin was all about the BE-4 and its hydrostatic bearings. Interestingly, George Sowers, VP of Advanced Concepts & Technologies at ULA, commented on their use of hydrostatic bearings on Twitter.