T+2: SpaceX’s Red Dragon, Falcon Performance, and the Political Fallout of OA-6

SpaceX officially announced their [first Red Dragon mission to Mars](https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/04/spacex-debut-red-dragon-2018-mars-mission/), which will pave the way for future missions. They also posted [new performance metrics](http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities) for Falcon 9 and Heavy, which position the launch vehicles very differently in the market. And a brief discussion of the [potential political fallout](http://spacenews.com/the-rd-180-amendment-was-one-of-two-launch-related-provisions-that-made-it-into-the-national-defense-authorization-act-of-2017-by-the-time-the-committee-voted-60-to-2-to-send-the-bill-to-the-full/) over the [OA-6 launch anomaly](https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/04/oa-6-atlas-v-booster-mrcv-anomoly/).

Main Engine Cut Off · Anthony Colangelo