This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.
Épisodes
Shirtsleeve Spaceflight and the Soyuz 11 Catastrophe (w. SYDDOYWTW)
31 oct. 2026 · 3 h 29
What do you have to worry about? Skin's mostly airtight. We collaborated with Somehow You Didn't Die On Your Way To Work to talk about that period in the 60s when the Soviets got so obsessed with cramming as many people into their spacecraft as possible, they ditched spacesuits as a concept. And…
Space Policy & the ISS (w. Nik Proxima)
21 oct. 2026 · 1 h 57
The ISS is the greatest product of international space cooperation ever achieved. It is also a product of happening at exactly the right time to actually be possible. Today, we’re talking to space policy expert Nik Proxima about the history of the ISS. We cover its conception as a post-Cold War…
*PREVIEW* Second Sun (Modern Warfare 2)
15 oct. 2026 · 18 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. A formative game from our childhoods, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, has a very controversial moment that some have argued could negatively…
The Trial of Georg Rickhey
7 oct. 2026 · 1 h 10
In 1947, Georg Rickhey, General Director of Mittelwerk, was charged with war crimes. He was acquitted for lack of evidence.Today, Quinn and Chris are talking about Operation Paperclip and the deliberate efforts made by its staff to protect post-war Nazis from justice and war crimes trials…
*PREVIEW* Ulysses 1994XF04 (Ace Combat)
30 sept. 2026 · 16 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. I do not much like the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). They’ve done some bad things. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris cover Ulysses from…
Technofascism & Space
23 sept. 2026 · 1 h 14
What with all the history talk, we haven't really yet tackled the space elephant in the room: that the space industry is increasingly run by billionaires and open fascists. So today, we're chatting with Ziggy , a post-graduate student studying fascist movements and their ties to scifi, on how…
*PREVIEW* The USSA Mars Shot Project (Fallout)
16 sept. 2026 · 16 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. In the months before the Bombs Fell, the American space program was preparing for its greatest challenge yet: reaching the Red Planet. But the…
Flight of the Alberts [5th Anniversary Special]
13 sept. 2026 · 1 h 22
Capsule: check. Monkey: check. Downers: check. To celebrate our 5th anniversary as a show, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are going back to the well to talk about our first ever topic: Project Albert. Or “that time the US Government launched a half dozen doped-up monkeys on captured Nazi V-2s”.…
Project 714 'Shuguang' (w. November Kelly)
9 sept. 2026 · 1 h 42
In the summer of 1966, work at China’s top-secret space program ground to a halt as every worker spent every day putting up posters, making denunciations, and murdering each other. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by November Kelly to talk about Project 714, China’s secret…
The Horrors of Early Space Food (w. Dr Kaveh Hoda)
26 août 2026 · 1 h 34
The first space food was made by veterinarians instead of dieticians and was so bad that many astronauts chose to fast through their missions. And it could've been *so* much worse. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are talking to Dr Kaveh Hoda , gastroenterologist and host of the House of…
*PREVIEW* LDSS Nauvoo (The Expanse)
19 août 2026 · 20 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. Count the moons, duster! Today, Quinn (Belter), Chris (Martian), and Other Chris (Earther) are talking about the largest ship ever built by humans,…
Nuclear Rockets (w. Scooter)
12 août 2026 · 1 h 33
While most of NASA was focused on the Apollo Moon Program, a separate division was hard at work building then deliberately blowing up nuclear rocket cores all over Nevada. This week, we’re talking to train and nuclear knower Scooter about the weird and convoluted story of American nuclear rockets.…
Soyuz-23: Ice Fishing for Cosmonauts (w. Matt Lowne)
29 juil. 2026 · 1 h 08
A secret military space station, a rookie crew, a flaky autopilot, insufficient batteries, a freak winter storm, and a frozen lake. We’re joined by space and KSP youtuber Matt Lowne to talk about Soyuz-23, the only water touchdown of a Soviet spacecraft and how it very nearly killed its entire…
*PREVIEW* Tatsumaki Class (w. Tex Talks Battletech)
24 juil. 2026 · 15 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. In the wake of Operation:REVIVAL, House Kurita embarked on a crash WarShip development program to try and match the naval superiority of the Clans.…
Moon Tank 2: Lunokhod 2 (w. Victoria Scott)
15 juil. 2026 · 1 h 28
The guy who made the Ultima games owns a space tank. We’re back with auto journalist and podcaster Victoria Scott to keep talking Lunokhod. In Part 2, we go over the journey of Lunokhod 2, lives saved in the Chernobyl Disaster, and the post-Soviet desperation that led to a Moon rover being sold…
Moon Tank: Lunokhod 1 (w. Victoria Scott)
1 juil. 2026 · 1 h 26
In a desperate bid to one-up the American Apollo missions, the Soviets built nuclear Moon tanks. We’re joined by auto journalist and podcaster Victoria Scott for a series on the Soviet Lunokhod rovers. In Part 1, we talk about the three-pronged Soviet lunar program, how they built the first space…
Burn Space Down: The Starfish Prime Shot
26 juin 2026 · 1 h 57
On July 9th, 1962, the US Navy lit space on fire from Hawaii to New Zealand and fried a quarter of all active satellites in orbit. This week, we’re joined by engineer and friend of the show Ian to talk about Starfish Prime, the largest nuclear test ever conducted in space, and all the satellites…
*PREVIEW* The Lesson (1987)
25 juin 2026 · 20 min
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier. For June’s bonus, we’re joined by Ani Mejlumyan of the Lions Led By Donkeys podcast to talk all about The Lesson, a strange Soviet-Armenian…
Deep Sea & Space (w. Dr Alan Jamieson)
11 juin 2026 · 1 h 30
The earliest manned spaceflights were universally cramped, uncomfortable, and dangerous. What if your job was to do that multiple times a year underwater? This week, we're joined by Dr. Alan Jamieson, an accomplished marine biologist, veteran of many deep sea dives, and a host of the Deep Sea…
*UNLOCKED* Gleipnir (Ace Combat X)
5 juin 2026 · 1 h 01
More Ace Combat announcements are coming out and we're very excited about that, so we're unlocking our bonus episode from earlier this year on the Gleipnir flying stealthing aircraftlasermissilebattlecarrier. The final boss of superweapon development. A weapon worth double digits of the GDP of…