T+317: Isaacman Renomination Hearing, Starliner Flights Cut, Starship at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 Almost Sticks the Landing, and More (with Stephen Clark)

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 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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T+317: Isaacman Renomination Hearing, Starliner Flights Cut, Starship at SLC-37, Zhuque-3 Almost Sticks the Landing, and More (with Stephen Clark) is an episode from Main Engine Cut Off by Dot First, LLC.

This episode is 00:59:59 long.

This episode was published on Dec 8, 2025.

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