Podcast · Tech & Science
by Anthony Colangelo · English · Tech & Science
MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.
29 Sep 2026 · 33 min
NASA and Boeing laid out Starliner’s return-to-flight plan as SpaceX prepares to leave Dragon behind. I talk through the weak demand signal for crewed flight in LEO, how NASA’s commitment to the ISS and commercial stations boxed themselves into this decision, and what to do between here and the Moon.
E339 · 28 Aug 2026 · 36 min
SpaceX officially announced Starbase Louisiana, and I break down why the site fits Starship’s launch, landing, and orbital architecture so perfectly. I also look at the transition from Falcon to Starship, and the new launch vehicles on the verge of debut.
E338 · 27 Aug 2026 · 48 min
Andrew Jones returns to the show to catch up on the Chinese space industry—the landings of Zhuque-3 and Long March 10B first stages, Chang’e-7 and its delay, and more.
E337 · 4 Aug 2026 · 48 min
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.
E336 · 2 Jul 2026 · 25 min
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.
E335 · 15 Jun 2026 · 41 min
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.
E334 · 9 Jun 2026 · 44 min
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.
E333 · 29 May 2026 · 31 min
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.
E332 · 26 May 2026 · 37 min
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.
E331 · 19 May 2026 · 44 min
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.
E330 · 24 Apr 2026 · 32 min
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.
E329 · 23 Apr 2026 · 45 min
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.
E328 · 9 Apr 2026 · 52 min
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.
E327 · 7 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
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.
E326 · 2 Apr 2026 · 14 min
Artemis II is underway with a spectacular first day.
E325 · 31 Mar 2026 · 35 min
There was a lot of news in NASA’s Ignition event last week, and I break down what actually matters: not whether Jared Isaacman’s timelines are realistic, but how this new roadmap strips away architectural dependencies and forces the real bottlenecks into the open. I talk through Gateway’s cancellation, the possible path away from SLS and ICPS, what this means for lunar landers and international partners, and why NASA’s new philosophy feels so different from the past.
E324 · 17 Mar 2026 · 40 min
Tom Mueller, Founder and CEO of Impulse Space, joins me to catch up on the company’s progress and plans—3 Mira missions flown, Helios soon to fly, $525M raised, new defense contracts, a lunar lander concept, and a new Colorado facility.
E323 · 27 Feb 2026 · 30 min
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a sweeping roadmap change to the Artemis program this morning—seemingly cancelling the EUS, Gateway, and all SLS upgrades, and instead pursuing the once-and-future annual launch cadence of SLS.
E322 · 6 Feb 2026 · 41 min
Loren Grush, of Bloomberg, joins me to talk about SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, its preparation for a potential IPO, Blue Origin’s cancellation of New Shepard and their recent momentum, and the delay to Artemis II following its first wet dress rehearsal.
E321 · 23 Jan 2026 · 31 min
Artemis II is on the pad, and I can’t stop thinking about it. So I guess listen to me think in the open? Also, a ton of Blue Origin news—the next flight of New Glenn will feature a flown booster, they’ve announced constellation plans under the name TeraWave, and Tory Bruno has left ULA to join the team at Blue.
E320 · 22 Jan 2026 · 32 min
Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society joins me to talk about the NASA FY2026 budget, the early days of the Administrator Isaacman era, and how we feel going into Artemis II.
E319 · 23 Dec 2025 · 49 min
A holiday special! Enjoy this week’s episode of Headlines free. It’s an absolute monster episode—way longer than usual Headlines episodes, I promise—but it’s a great example of what you get when you support the show over at mainenginecutoff.com/support.
E318 · 17 Dec 2025 · 49 min
Yesterday, I had the chance to visit the Pentagon and sit down with General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations—the head of the United States Space Force. We talk about the service 6 years into its existence, the state of acquisitions, the threats and space environment today, and what the future may hold for the Space Force when it comes to human spaceflight.
E317 · 8 Dec 2025 · 1 hr
Stephen Clark of Ars Technica joins me to talk about a ton of stories in the news—Jared Isaacman was back in front of Congress, a few Starliner flights have been cut from the ISS manifest, Starship received environmental approval to proceed at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 almost stuck its first landing attempt, the Soyuz launch pad fell apart at Baikonur, and the Space Force has a new mission naming scheme.
E316 · 26 Nov 2025 · 30 min
Blue Origin is fresh off an incredible few weeks—a successful second launch and first landing of New Glenn, followed by an exciting unveil of upgrades to the vehicle, including an enormous new version, New Glenn 9x4.
E315 · 11 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
Simone D’Amico of Stanford and EraDrive, DJ Bush of NVIDIA, and Al Tadros of Redwire join me to talk about autonomy in space, to get into the specific details of what they’re working on and how it comes together, and what it may do for the industry in the next few years.
E314 · 31 Oct 2025 · 35 min
Thinking through the chaos that has ensued over the NASA Administrator role, the Artemis 3 lander acceleration movement, the SpaceX Starship HLS update, and a bit on how we actually got here.
E313 · 30 Oct 2025 · 33 min
Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me (in studio!) to talk about Starlink V3, Starlink satellite relay, Kuiper’s rollout, the Airbus-Thales-Leonardo merger, and the future of Iridium.
E312 · 17 Oct 2025 · 44 min
Miles O’Brien, science correspondent for PBS News and CNN space analyst, joins me to talk about Starship Flight 11, the current space policy landscape including the ongoing government shutdown, the possible return of Jared Isaacman, and what to do about all the competing budget priorities at NASA.
E311 · 10 Oct 2025 · 43 min
Phil McAlister, former Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division, joins me to talk about the Commercial LEO Destinations program, the budgetary issues facing NASA and its human spaceflight programs, and to share his perspective on the last (and next) few years in these areas.
MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.
Main Engine Cut Off is a English tech & science podcast from Anthony Colangelo. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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