Main Engine Cut OffThe Space Development Agency may have the goal of speeding up acquisitions and development of space systems, but until they solve the protest-laden nature of the beast, they can only make so much progress.
This is such a no-brainer of a program for NASA, assuming they can get the money and approval for it from Congress. It would solve a massive need for NASA—a dwindling and soon-to-be-if-not-already-overloaded communications network at Mars—while also pushing the private industry to up its game and prove itself.
If the program comes to fruition, I would mark this down as close to a must-win for SpaceX.Â
A smooth first launch and docking for the cargo version of Dragon 2. Most excitingly, the Nanoracks Airlock, Bishop, is stored in Dragon’s trunk and will be installed on Node 3 later this month.
A funny note I brought up in the most recent Off-Nominal episode with Eric Berger: this first stage booster specifically has launched 252 satellites to orbit, which is more than any single company except SpaceX has operating in orbit.
SpaceX Crew-1 successfully launched and docked last week, kicking off a new era of the ISS. It’s a good time to zoom out and look at the ISS program overall, and what it means for the future of space development.
It’s easy to shrug off the marketing of this as their “first operational fuel depot” because they’re flying with a good bit of funding as a pathfinder mission for their hardware.
But for something like a refueling interface that requires adoption by at least a good number of customers for Orbit Fab to find success, marketing is really important.
With a massive amount of news happening in the week following the election here in the US, it’s a good opportunity to give everyone a listen in on MECO Headlines. I run through all the stories of the week each and every weekend just like this for the supporters of MECO, so if you like what you hear, join the Headlines tier or higher!
Big slip for Ariane 6, and 5% growth of development cost—bringing the total development cost to €3.8 billion. Disappointing yet unsurprising news. This news has dredged up another round of Ariane 6 takes that misunderstand the program entirely, though.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Caleb Henry, formerly of SpaceNews and now of Quilty Analytics. We talk about SpaceX’s new satellite contract, OneWeb’s new lease on life, Caleb’s new gig at Quilty, and what it’s like transitioning away from capital-J journalism.
The Space Development Agency has selected L3Harris and SpaceX to produce satellites for a missile warning constellation. I break down the details of the SDA project, the technical aspects, and what it means to see SpaceX enter the world of satellite manufacturing and sales.