Main Engine Cut OffT+112: SLC-20, SPD-4, and a Soyuz Soapbox
Firefly Aerospace is taking over Space Launch Complex 20, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive-4, and NASA is looking to buy more Soyuz seats, even though they always say it’s too late to do that.
T+111: SpaceX, the Established Launch Provider
A tale of politics, protests, and contracts tells the story of how SpaceX is in transition—and maybe has already transitioned—from a scrappy upstart to an established launch provider.
T+110: Starship, New Glenn, and RS1 Updates
ABL Space Systems announced some changes to RS1, Blue Origin broke ground in Huntsville and signed a new customer, and SpaceX has been making steady progress on Starship.
T+109: Q&A
We cover a lot of ground in this round of questions, nearly all focused on the future—ISS crew scheduling, ISS facilities, ISRO human spaceflight, science missions, and launch vehicles.
T+108: Layoffs and Launch Sites
I wanted to spend some time breaking down a few news items from last week that may be leading indicators of trends for 2019: layoffs at Stratolaunch, Tethers Unlimited, and SpaceX, and Relativity signed a lease for Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral.
T+107: Chris Gebhardt
Chris Gebhardt of NASASpaceflight joins me to talk all things SpaceX: Starship and its upcoming hopper tests, DM-1 and the government shutdown, and more.
T+106: Q&A
This month I tackle questions on future space architectures, companies working in space right now, and finish with a 2018 Top 10 ranking.
T+105: Jonathan McDowell
Jonathan McDowell joins me to talk about his recent paper proposing 80 kilometers, rather than 100, as a more appropriate boundary of the edge of space.
T+104: Jake Robins
Jake Robins of WeMartians joins me to talk InSight, Mars EDL, and Mars 2020.
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.