Main Engine Cut Off

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.
NASA finally—and we really do mean it this time—has a full-time leader - Ars Technica
Agencywide Town Hall with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 - YouTube
Trump commits to Moon landing by 2028, followed by a lunar outpost two years later - Ars Technica
NASA Teams Work MAVEN Spacecraft Signal Loss - NASA Science
NASA Continues MAVEN Spacecraft Recontact Efforts - NASA Science
SpaceX Sets $800 Billion Valuation, Confirms 2026 IPO Plans - Bloomberg
SpaceX $1.5 Trillion Value Target Hinges on Starlink — And Elon - Bloomberg
SpaceX Said to Notify Employees of Quiet Period Ahead of IPO - Bloomberg
In a surprise announcement, Tory Bruno is out as CEO of United Launch Alliance - Ars Technica
Space Development Agency awards $3.5 billion in contracts for missile-tracking satellites - SpaceNews
Chinese astronauts inspect debris-damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft during spacewalk - SpaceNews
Space Station – Off The Earth, For The Earth
NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim, Crewmates Return from Space Station - NASA
After key Russian launch site is damaged, NASA accelerates Dragon supply missions - Ars Technica
R-7 ICBM/Soyuz rocket launch facilities in Baikonur
Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying this week - NASASpaceFlight.com
Launch Previews: Ariane 6, Falcon 9, Atlas V, and Electron launches highlight busy week - NASASpaceFlight.com
Launch Roundup: International launches fill manifest during last full week of 2025 - NASASpaceFlight.com
China launches 4 times in 4 days, boosting megaconstellation and surveillance assets - SpaceNews
China launches new TJS satellite, commercial Kinetica-1 lofts 9 spacecraft - SpaceNews
Michael Nicolls on X: “When satellite operators do not share ephemeris for their satellites, dangerously close approaches can occur in space.   A few days ago, 9 satellites were deployed from a launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwestern China. As far as we know, no coordination or…”
China launches experimental cargo spacecraft, opaque tech demo mission and remote sensing satellite - SpaceNews
Andrew Jones on X: “Turns out there were two male mice launched on the DEAR-5 cargo spacecraft for neuroscience research. Spacecraft is planned to operate in orbit for one year and is not rated for reentry, so it's game over at some point for the rodents. Video is prelaunch.”
Rocket Lab launches JAXA tech demo satellite - SpaceNews
Ariane 6 launches Galileo navigation satellites - SpaceNews
These are the flying discs the government wants you to know about - Ars Technica
Blue Origin flies first wheelchair user to space - SpaceNews
Rocket Lab wraps up record launch year - SpaceNews
Japan’s H3 suffers second-stage anomaly, QZS-5 satellite lost - SpaceNews
Andrew Jones on X
China launches new Guowang satellites, Long March 12A launch and landing attempt date set - SpaceNews
Keep an eye on upcoming launches with rocketlaunch.live.

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.
This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Russell, Natasha Tsakos, Will and Lars from Agile, Theo and Violet, David, Matt, Better Every Day Studios, Warren, The Astrogators at SEE, Josh from Impulse, Stealth Julian, Joakim, Frank, Pat, Joel, Donald, Ryan, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Joonas, Jan, Steve, Fred, Lee, Kris, Heiko, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.
Topics
United States Space Force
B. Chance Saltzman > United States Space Force > Display
Space Force roadmap set to define what the service needs and why - SpaceNews
US intel officials “concerned” China will soon master reusable launch - Ars Technica
Asked why we need Golden Dome, the man in charge points to a Hollywood film - Ars Technica
Space Force rolls out new naming scheme for satellites and space weapons - SpaceNews
Andrew Jones on X: “Outrageous images of China's Shijian-26, an apparent new-gen Earth observation satellite, from Maxar. SSD of 1.9 cm.”
Andrew Jones on X: “China's CGST has returned the favour, using its Jilin-1 sats to image a Maxar Worldview Legion 2 satellite.”
Scott Tilley 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@coastal8049) / X
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Artwork photo by Blue Origin
Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

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.
This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Matt, Fred, Kris, Natasha Tsakos, Josh from Impulse, Better Every Day Studios, Joakim, Joel, Ryan, The Astrogators at SEE, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Heiko, Jan, Theo and Violet, Donald, Pat, Will and Lars from Agile, Lee, Russell, Joonas, Warren, Steve, Frank, Stealth Julian, David, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.
Topics
Author: Stephen Clark - Ars Technica
NASA nominee appears before Congress, defends plans to revamp space agency - Ars Technica
Congress warned that NASA’s current plan for Artemis “cannot work” - Ars Technica
NASA seeks a “warm backup” option as key decision on lunar rover nears - Ars Technica
It’s official: Boeing’s next flight of Starliner will be allowed to carry cargo only - Ars Technica
A spectacular explosion shows China is close to obtaining reusable rockets - Ars Technica
Before a Soyuz launch Thursday someone forgot to secure a 20-ton service platform - Ars Technica
Rivals object to SpaceX’s Starship plans in Florida—who’s interfering with whom? - Ars Technica
SpaceX on X: “We’ve received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started. With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s…”
Attack, defend, pursue—the Space Force’s new naming scheme foretells new era - Ars Technica
The Show
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Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
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Artwork photo by Blue Origin
Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

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.
This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Natasha Tsakos, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Pat, Heiko, Kris, Jan, Better Every Day Studios, Theo and Violet, Matt, Josh from Impulse, Russell, Joel, Warren, Joonas, Joakim, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Donald, David, Frank, Steve, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.
Topics
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket came back home after taking aim at Mars - Ars Technica
Jeff Bezos on X: “Good overview of the landing. We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time. We are all excited and grateful for yesterday…”
New Glenn Update | Blue Origin
Booster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing - NASASpaceFlight.com
Senate Commerce Committee schedules hearing on Isaacman renomination - SpaceNews
Lawmakers writing NASA’s budget want a cheaper upper stage for the SLS rocket - Ars Technica
The Show
Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
Follow @WeHaveMECO
Follow @[email protected] on Mastodon
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Artwork photo by JAXA
Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

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.
This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joonas, Russell, Donald, Stealth Julian, Pat, Fred, David, Lee, Frank, Josh from Impulse, Steve, Joel, Joakim, Matt, Natasha Tsakos, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Kris, Theo and Violet, Heiko, Will and Lars from Agile, Jan, Warren, The Astrogators at SEE, Ryan, Better Every Day Studios, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.
Topics
Episode T+315: Autonomy in Space (with Simone D’Amico, DJ Bush, and Al Tadros) - YouTube
Simone D'Amico | LinkedIn
Center for AEroSpace Autonomy Research (CAESAR)
Stanford spinoff EraDrive claims $1 million NASA contract - SpaceNews
DJ Bush | LinkedIn
How Starcloud Is Bringing Data Centers to Outer Space | NVIDIA Blog
Al Tadros | LinkedIn
Redwire Space | Heritage + Innovation
NASA Starling - Autonomous Tip and Cue in Orbit
NASA Starling - Distributed Optical Navigation
NASA Starling - Autonomous Space Domain Awareness
VISORS - Precise Formation-Flying
Autonomous Spacecraft 3D Model Reconstruction
The Show
Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!
Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected]
Follow @WeHaveMECO
Follow @[email protected] 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 JAXA
Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works