T+342: NASA Updates Artemis III and IV Plans, and the Big Feelings on the Falcon to Starship Transition

NASA laid out its plans for Artemis III and IV, including dramatically different paths to the Moon for Blue Moon and Starship. I dig into the complexity and sustainability of both architectures, the ever-changing role of SLS, and then into the big feelings around SpaceX’s future—with or without the industry.
This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Joakim, Miles O’Brien, Josh from Impulse, Joonas, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Kris, Jan, Theo and Violet, Heiko, Fred, Matt, Donald, Will and Lars from Agile, Stealth Julian, David, Joel, The Astrogators at SEE, Frank, Steve, Warren, Russell, Pat, Natasha Tsakos, Ryan, Matt from Built, Lee, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters (mainenginecutoff.com/support).
Topics
• NASA’s Artemis III Mission to Test Future Moon Lander Operations - NASA (nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasas-artemis-iii-mi…)
• NASA, Partners Accelerate Lander Development for 2028 Moon Missions - NASA (nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasa-partners-accele…)
• SpaceX no longer needs NASA, and that's a problem for America's space agency - Ars Technica (arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/spacex-no-longer…)
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