Failure To Launch Podcast
@failuretolaunch.bsky.social
A podcast for learning about all the bad things that happened to people who went up.
https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
Going through our collection of "images that'll cause a space engineer pain". First up: Venera-14. Soviet probe lands on Venus, jettisons its protective lens cap, lens cap lands directly under the soil sampling arm.
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Going through our collection of "images that'll cause a space engineer pain". First up: Venera-14. Soviet probe lands on Venus, jettisons its protective lens cap, lens cap lands directly under the soil sampling arm.
New episode!
We talked about Skylab-4, the third manned mission to America's first space station, and the legend of the First Mutiny in Orbit. And how they totally would have been justified to strike because living in space sucks.
open.spotify.com/episode/7H4M...
We talked about Skylab-4, the third manned mission to America's first space station, and the legend of the First Mutiny in Orbit. And how they totally would have been justified to strike because living in space sucks.
open.spotify.com/episode/7H4M...
Skylab 4 - The Myth of the Space Mutiny
open.spotify.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:12 PM
New episode!
We talked about Skylab-4, the third manned mission to America's first space station, and the legend of the First Mutiny in Orbit. And how they totally would have been justified to strike because living in space sucks.
open.spotify.com/episode/7H4M...
We talked about Skylab-4, the third manned mission to America's first space station, and the legend of the First Mutiny in Orbit. And how they totally would have been justified to strike because living in space sucks.
open.spotify.com/episode/7H4M...
We've got a merch store! If you've ever wanted to wear some space history, now's your chance! Featuring such gems as the Engineering Ronin, Saint Yuri, and Jack Parsons Tarot.
failuretolaunch.bigcartel.com
Featuring some incredible art by friend of the show @filmfroghand.bsky.social
failuretolaunch.bigcartel.com
Featuring some incredible art by friend of the show @filmfroghand.bsky.social
February 10, 2026 at 4:22 PM
We've got a merch store! If you've ever wanted to wear some space history, now's your chance! Featuring such gems as the Engineering Ronin, Saint Yuri, and Jack Parsons Tarot.
failuretolaunch.bigcartel.com
Featuring some incredible art by friend of the show @filmfroghand.bsky.social
failuretolaunch.bigcartel.com
Featuring some incredible art by friend of the show @filmfroghand.bsky.social
It's been a bit of a hectic week for us. After a fan got abducted by ICE (since released), the community came together to help. As part of that, we've been fundraising for a number of charities operating in Minneapolis and Gaza.
February 1, 2026 at 2:34 PM
It's been a bit of a hectic week for us. After a fan got abducted by ICE (since released), the community came together to help. As part of that, we've been fundraising for a number of charities operating in Minneapolis and Gaza.
Reposted by Failure To Launch Podcast
It's 9:00 AM EST on 1 February. Godspeed, the crew of Space Transportation System (STS) Flight - 107 , Space Shuttle Columbia www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-...
February 1, 2026 at 2:00 PM
It's 9:00 AM EST on 1 February. Godspeed, the crew of Space Transportation System (STS) Flight - 107 , Space Shuttle Columbia www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-...
New episode!
We sat down with @alexander-the-ok.bsky.social to talk about Vladimir Chelomey's LKS shuttle project, how OKB politics worked, and how it all fell apart.
open.spotify.com/episode/2wgd...
We sat down with @alexander-the-ok.bsky.social to talk about Vladimir Chelomey's LKS shuttle project, how OKB politics worked, and how it all fell apart.
open.spotify.com/episode/2wgd...
Chelomey's LKS Shuttle (w. Alexander The OK)
open.spotify.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:29 PM
New episode!
We sat down with @alexander-the-ok.bsky.social to talk about Vladimir Chelomey's LKS shuttle project, how OKB politics worked, and how it all fell apart.
open.spotify.com/episode/2wgd...
We sat down with @alexander-the-ok.bsky.social to talk about Vladimir Chelomey's LKS shuttle project, how OKB politics worked, and how it all fell apart.
open.spotify.com/episode/2wgd...
New episode!
This time we covered the weird and dumb life of stuntman and Flat Earther* Mad Mike Hughes. His time as "the world's most famous limo driver", his turn into amateur rocketry, and his belief that he could buy you by spelling your name in all caps.
*Maybe
open.spotify.com/episode/3knH...
This time we covered the weird and dumb life of stuntman and Flat Earther* Mad Mike Hughes. His time as "the world's most famous limo driver", his turn into amateur rocketry, and his belief that he could buy you by spelling your name in all caps.
*Maybe
open.spotify.com/episode/3knH...
Mad Mike Hughes, The Flat Earth Rocketman
open.spotify.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:34 PM
New episode!
This time we covered the weird and dumb life of stuntman and Flat Earther* Mad Mike Hughes. His time as "the world's most famous limo driver", his turn into amateur rocketry, and his belief that he could buy you by spelling your name in all caps.
*Maybe
open.spotify.com/episode/3knH...
This time we covered the weird and dumb life of stuntman and Flat Earther* Mad Mike Hughes. His time as "the world's most famous limo driver", his turn into amateur rocketry, and his belief that he could buy you by spelling your name in all caps.
*Maybe
open.spotify.com/episode/3knH...
Having the closure of the Goddard library be announced and justified by the former owner of "𝚃𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚢" is just another kick in the teeth.
January 2, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Having the closure of the Goddard library be announced and justified by the former owner of "𝚃𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚢" is just another kick in the teeth.
One of the main reasons we know anything about the workings of the Soviet space program is because similar libraries were opened up to historians after the fall of the USSR.
Trashing all these documents will force future programs to resolve problems that were solved and written about in the 60s.
Trashing all these documents will force future programs to resolve problems that were solved and written about in the 60s.
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
January 1, 2026 at 4:24 PM
One of the main reasons we know anything about the workings of the Soviet space program is because similar libraries were opened up to historians after the fall of the USSR.
Trashing all these documents will force future programs to resolve problems that were solved and written about in the 60s.
Trashing all these documents will force future programs to resolve problems that were solved and written about in the 60s.
We have our last episode of the year out and it is the conclusion to our series on Mittelwerk. This time, we're joined by @jkass99.bsky.social in his role as a genocide historian to look at the final days at Mittelwerk and how it fit into the wider camp system.
open.spotify.com/episode/0eyq...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eyq...
Mittelwerk: Part 6 (w. Joe Kassabian)
open.spotify.com
December 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
We have our last episode of the year out and it is the conclusion to our series on Mittelwerk. This time, we're joined by @jkass99.bsky.social in his role as a genocide historian to look at the final days at Mittelwerk and how it fit into the wider camp system.
open.spotify.com/episode/0eyq...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eyq...
Since Bart Sibrel saw fit to use a quote from Men in Black 3 (2012) for his dumb moon hoax book, we decided to give it a check ourselves for this month's bonus episode!
www.patreon.com/posts/men-in...
www.patreon.com/posts/men-in...
Men in Black 3 (2012) | Failure To Launch
Get more from Failure To Launch on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Since Bart Sibrel saw fit to use a quote from Men in Black 3 (2012) for his dumb moon hoax book, we decided to give it a check ourselves for this month's bonus episode!
www.patreon.com/posts/men-in...
www.patreon.com/posts/men-in...
Everyone telling me that Trump's new battleship plans are "IRL Ace Combat superweapons" as a way to disparage them. That is frankly incorrect and slanderous.
They are clearly from Tom Clancy's HAWX (2009).
They are clearly from Tom Clancy's HAWX (2009).
December 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Everyone telling me that Trump's new battleship plans are "IRL Ace Combat superweapons" as a way to disparage them. That is frankly incorrect and slanderous.
They are clearly from Tom Clancy's HAWX (2009).
They are clearly from Tom Clancy's HAWX (2009).
Opposing the "Spain's First Astronaut" bit but only because of our strong, principled stance that space tourists are 𝗡𝗢𝗧 real astronauts.
Had he passed the Kármán Line, Luis Carrero Blanco would have been Spain's first Spaceflight Participant. Rank matters.
Had he passed the Kármán Line, Luis Carrero Blanco would have been Spain's first Spaceflight Participant. Rank matters.
December 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Opposing the "Spain's First Astronaut" bit but only because of our strong, principled stance that space tourists are 𝗡𝗢𝗧 real astronauts.
Had he passed the Kármán Line, Luis Carrero Blanco would have been Spain's first Spaceflight Participant. Rank matters.
Had he passed the Kármán Line, Luis Carrero Blanco would have been Spain's first Spaceflight Participant. Rank matters.
I love Reflect Orbital. I love their weird machined parts. I love the 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓅𝒽𝒾𝒸 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝑔𝓃 on their website. I love the "we have Znamya at home" business model.
December 20, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I love Reflect Orbital. I love their weird machined parts. I love the 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓅𝒽𝒾𝒸 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝑔𝓃 on their website. I love the "we have Znamya at home" business model.
You may be seeing some news around now about "rushing a space program to meet an arbitrary political deadline" and we want to reassure you that, historically, this has always worked splendidly across the board.
December 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
You may be seeing some news around now about "rushing a space program to meet an arbitrary political deadline" and we want to reassure you that, historically, this has always worked splendidly across the board.
Part 5 of the Mittelwerk series is up. In this episode, we look at the official establishment of the Mittelbau complex and the constellation of subcamps that sprung up around it.
open.spotify.com/episode/7HWI...
open.spotify.com/episode/7HWI...
Mittelwerk, Hitler's Rocket Factory: Part 5
open.spotify.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Part 5 of the Mittelwerk series is up. In this episode, we look at the official establishment of the Mittelbau complex and the constellation of subcamps that sprung up around it.
open.spotify.com/episode/7HWI...
open.spotify.com/episode/7HWI...
In celebration of the new Ace Combat announcement, we've opened up our in-universe Arkbird bonus episode.
open.spotify.com/episode/2dxe...
open.spotify.com/episode/2dxe...
*UNLOCKED* Arkbird (Ace Combat 5)
open.spotify.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:25 PM
In celebration of the new Ace Combat announcement, we've opened up our in-universe Arkbird bonus episode.
open.spotify.com/episode/2dxe...
open.spotify.com/episode/2dxe...
We're back with Part 4 of our series into Mittelwerk, Hitler's underground rocket factory. This time, we're taking a wider look at what was happening in the Nazi leadership and war in 1944 and how those changes impacted Mittelbau-Dora.
open.spotify.com/episode/1uqA...
open.spotify.com/episode/1uqA...
Mittelwerk, Hitler's Rocket Factory: Part 4
open.spotify.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:26 PM
We're back with Part 4 of our series into Mittelwerk, Hitler's underground rocket factory. This time, we're taking a wider look at what was happening in the Nazi leadership and war in 1944 and how those changes impacted Mittelbau-Dora.
open.spotify.com/episode/1uqA...
open.spotify.com/episode/1uqA...
Not going to try and say a failed Zhuque-3 landing on a first attempt is some huge deal (first launches almost never go perfectly), but 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕟 if that isn't one of the cleanest shots of a booster crash I've ever seen.
December 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Not going to try and say a failed Zhuque-3 landing on a first attempt is some huge deal (first launches almost never go perfectly), but 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕟 if that isn't one of the cleanest shots of a booster crash I've ever seen.
Seeing more media reports about the "Just One Guy" that destroyed the Soyuz pad, so we will reiterate the show motto: IT'S ALWAYS SYSTEMIC, IT'S NEVER JUST ONE GUY.
If your system can be ruined by one [1] person messing up, that's a bad system. Get better QA. Get good maintenance. Write manuals!
If your system can be ruined by one [1] person messing up, that's a bad system. Get better QA. Get good maintenance. Write manuals!
November 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Seeing more media reports about the "Just One Guy" that destroyed the Soyuz pad, so we will reiterate the show motto: IT'S ALWAYS SYSTEMIC, IT'S NEVER JUST ONE GUY.
If your system can be ruined by one [1] person messing up, that's a bad system. Get better QA. Get good maintenance. Write manuals!
If your system can be ruined by one [1] person messing up, that's a bad system. Get better QA. Get good maintenance. Write manuals!
On the one hand, awful that this failure should happen under the watch of the only young hot guy to lead Roscosmos ever. On the other, they gave Jerma a space program. This was inevitable.
November 27, 2025 at 11:11 PM
On the one hand, awful that this failure should happen under the watch of the only young hot guy to lead Roscosmos ever. On the other, they gave Jerma a space program. This was inevitable.
Reposted by Failure To Launch Podcast
Russia's only pad for crew launches suffers major damage:
russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_r7_...
russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_r7_...
November 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Russia's only pad for crew launches suffers major damage:
russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_r7_...
russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_r7_...
While the launch went well and Soyuz MS-28 docked with the ISS a few hours ago, it appears that the entire service cabin (a platform that sits under the rocket for maintenance access) collapsed into the flame trench at Baikonur's Site 31/6.
November 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
While the launch went well and Soyuz MS-28 docked with the ISS a few hours ago, it appears that the entire service cabin (a platform that sits under the rocket for maintenance access) collapsed into the flame trench at Baikonur's Site 31/6.
We took a break from the horrors to answer some questions generously provided by our fans in the first FTL Q&A! If you're interested, you can find it on our Patreon at any tier as well as promos anywhere you get your podcasts.
www.patreon.com/posts/failur...
www.patreon.com/posts/failur...
Failure To Launch | Q&A 1 | Failure To Launch
Get more from Failure To Launch on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
We took a break from the horrors to answer some questions generously provided by our fans in the first FTL Q&A! If you're interested, you can find it on our Patreon at any tier as well as promos anywhere you get your podcasts.
www.patreon.com/posts/failur...
www.patreon.com/posts/failur...