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Main Engine Cut Off

Anthony Colangelo
Main Engine Cut Off
Latest episode

338 episodes

  • Main Engine Cut Off

    T+337: Inversion Space (with Justin Fiaschetti, Co-Founder and CEO)

    04/08/2026 | 48 mins.
    Justin Fiaschetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Inversion Space, joins me to talk about the company’s plan to store maneuverable reentry vehicles in orbit for rapid cargo delivery, the design and architecture decisions driving Arc including cross-range requirements and payload accomodations, and how they see the market for these services.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Russell, Fred, Natasha Tsakos, Matt, Joonas, Matt from Built, Josh from Impulse, Pat, Steve, David, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joel, Stealth Julian, Ryan, Theo and Violet, Kris, The Astrogators at SEE, Miles O’Brien, Jan, Donald, Joakim, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, Warren, Lee, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    Inversion

    Arc - Inversion

    Anduril, Team of Partners to Work on Space Force’s Space-Based Interceptors for Golden Dome for America | Anduril

    Arc Orbital Supply Capsule Aims To Put Military Supplies Anywhere On Earth Within An Hour

    The Show

    Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!

    Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com

    Follow @WeHaveMECO

    Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon

    Listen to MECO Headlines

    Listen to Off-Nominal

    Join the Off-Nominal Discord

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    Artwork photo by Zhou Quan

    Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
  • Main Engine Cut Off

    T+336: Rocket Lab Buys Iridium, New Glenn’s Pad Rebuild, and NASA Awards 4 CLPS Missions

    02/07/2026 | 24 mins.
    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.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Warren, Matt from Built, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Natasha Tsakos, Lee, Donald, David, Matt, Joonas, Russell, Steve, Frank, Will and Lars from Agile, The Astrogators at SEE, Josh from Impulse, Fred, Joel, Kris, Pat, Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Stealth Julian, Jan, Ryan, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    Rocket Lab to acquire Iridium - SpaceNews

    Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium in Historic Deal, Creating A

    New Glenn Return to Flight - Blue Origin

    NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities

    NextSTEP-3 B: Moon Base Demonstrations - NASA

    Episode 154 - They Ran Into Us (with Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium) - Off-Nominal

    The Show

    Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!

    Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com

    Follow @WeHaveMECO

    Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon

    Listen to MECO Headlines

    Listen to Off-Nominal

    Join the Off-Nominal Discord

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere

    Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter

    Artwork photo by SpaceX

    Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
  • Main Engine Cut Off

    T+335: Auriga Space (with Winnie Lai, Founder and CEO)

    15/06/2026 | 40 mins.
    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.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Ryan, Matt from Built, Russell, Joel, David, Kris, Joakim, Fred, Pat, Matt, Theo and Violet, Natasha Tsakos, Donald, Warren, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Frank, Jan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Josh from Impulse, Stealth Julian, Lee, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    Auriga - Electromagnetic Launch for Space and Defense

    Auriga Space raises $6M to shoot rockets off an electromagnetic launch track | TechCrunch

    The Show

    Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!

    Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com

    Follow @WeHaveMECO

    Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon

    Listen to MECO Headlines

    Listen to Off-Nominal

    Join the Off-Nominal Discord

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere

    Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter

    Artwork photo by SpaceX

    Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
  • Main Engine Cut Off

    T+334: SpaceX the Outlier, and Organization Leadership (with Matt Gjertsen)

    09/06/2026 | 43 mins.
    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.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Steve, Ryan, Matt from Built, Russell, Joel, David, Kris, Joakim, Fred, Pat, Matt, Theo and Violet, Natasha Tsakos, Donald, Warren, Miles O’Brien, Will and Lars from Agile, Frank, Jan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Josh from Impulse, Stealth Julian, Lee, Joonas, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    Built Leaders

    Minimum Viable Manager – Built Leaders

    Why Steve Jobs drowned the first iPod prototype | Cult of Mac

    The Show

    Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!

    Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com

    Follow @WeHaveMECO

    Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon

    Listen to MECO Headlines

    Listen to Off-Nominal

    Join the Off-Nominal Discord

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere

    Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter

    Artwork photo by SpaceX

    Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
  • Main Engine Cut Off

    T+333: New Glenn Explodes on LC-36, Starship Flight 12, and NASA Moon Base Updates

    29/05/2026 | 31 mins.
    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.

    This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Kris, David, Miles O’Brien, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Jan, Donald, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, The Astrogators at SEE, Ryan, Matt, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile, Pat, Fred, Joonas, Theo and Violet, Russell, Joel, Natasha Tsakos, Joakim, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.

    Topics

    Here's why the failure of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is so catastrophic - Ars Technica

    NASA takes steps toward building Moon Base, including discussing a "perimeter" - Ars Technica

    NASA selects four companies for initial moon base awards - SpaceNews

    The Show

    Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!

    Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com

    Follow @WeHaveMECO

    Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon

    Listen to MECO Headlines

    Listen to Off-Nominal

    Join the Off-Nominal Discord

    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere

    Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter

    Artwork photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls

    Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works
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About Main Engine Cut Off
MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.
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