MECO is opinion and analysis of spaceflight, exploration, policy, and strategy, by Anthony Colangelo.
323 episodes transcribedArtemis II is underway with a spectacular first day. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Donald, Matt, Dav...
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 realist...
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, $52...
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a sweeping roadmap change to the Artemis program this morning—seemingly cancelling the EUS, Gateway, and a...
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...
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 flig...
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...
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—b...
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 S...
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 flight...
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...
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...
Thinking through the chaos that has ensued over the NASA Administrator role, the Artemis 3 lander acceleration movement, the SpaceX Starship HLS updat...
Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me (in studio!) to talk about Starlink V3, Starlink satellite relay, Kuiper’s rollout, the Ai...
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...
Phil McAlister, former Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division, joins me to talk about the Commercial LEO Destinations program, the budgetary iss...
NASA selected Blue Origin to (maybe) deliver the once-cancelled VIPER rover, modified Sierra Space’s ISS resupply contract which likely puts the nail...
Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space, joins me to talk about EchoStar’s spectrum sales and constellation cancellation, SpaceX’s spectrum...
Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries, joins me to talk about the state of NASA in 2025, talent acquisition and retention, productivity, and...
Tom Marotta of The Spaceport Company joins me to talk about the executive order this week focused on commercial space regulatory reform, what problems...
