Main Engine Cut Off

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.