Main Engine Cut Off

Within the span of 3 days, NASA has officially, publicly stated that they want all previously-SLS-only flights flown on commercial vehicles. This is a massive shift, and as I said yesterday, one that will probably be rejected by Congress.

In the current era, White House budget requests often don’t matter much in the outcome of NASA’s budget, but they do speak volumes about the administration’s intentions.

The downrange distance for landing suggests that the launch will carry quite a payload.

The differences in how the Science directorate and Exploration directorate are managed—politically and internally—are striking.

We all knew Canada would contribute Canadarm3 to the Gateway, but it is politically important for NASA to have this stated commitment.

Unfortunately, Canadarm2 and the ISS will be operating until 2030, sucking up most of the time, money, and attention.

This is obviously a bad look for NASA, Boeing, SpaceX, and Congress, but it’s smart to have Soyuz overlap with the early Commercial Crew flights, just in case. However, let’s not forget the constant fearmongering from Bill Gerstenmaier and other NASA officials about how it’s too late to buy more Soyuz seats.

It’ll be endlessly interesting to see how this turns out, but now is precisely the right time for SpaceX to protest an award like this. They’re fresh off their Category 3 certification from the NASA Launch Services Program, they’re on a hell of a roll, and ULA has had quite a few scrubs and some long delays of late.

Originally, they planned to build an engine test and acceptance stand as part of their Cape Canaveral launch site—at the old Launch Complex 11. I wonder if getting space at Marshall would change that plan. I have to assume so.