Boeing Faces Tough Questions About Starliner, Its Future: NPR

This image provided by NASA shows Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docking with the International Space Station on July 3, 2024. The capsule launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station but will now return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.

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NASA/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The moment NASA announced that Boeing’s Starliner crew would return to Earth next year aboard a ship built by the company’s rival, SpaceX, the questions began.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was asked how confident he was that Boeing’s spacecraft would fly again with a crew.

“100 percent,” Nelson replied without hesitation. Nelson said he had just spoken with Boeing’s CEO before Saturday’s Houston press conference, who assured him that they “intend to move forward and launch Starliner in the future.”

Not everyone is so sure.

The Starliner spacecraft is set to return from space next week. But the two astronauts who launched in June on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission to the International Space Station will now remain for eight months because of malfunctions that occurred during the test flight.

It’s another blow to Boeing in what was Tough year This is considered a significant step for the space giant, and observers say it could have major implications for the company’s future in space.

“Boeing will need to deal with the consequences of this mission failing to meet its test objectives,” said Todd Harrison, a space industry veteran who is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Boeing has changed since awarding the Starliner contract a decade ago, becoming less focused on human spaceflight, Harrison said.

“It’s fairly likely that Boeing, in a few weeks or months, will come to the conclusion that they just need to back off” from Starliner, he said. “This program seems like something that doesn’t fit with the rest of their business.”

NASA flight test pilot Butch Wilmore (left) and pilot Sonny Williams are pictured heading to the launch pad for a mission to the International Space Station on June 5, 2024. The flight was supposed to last about eight days — but it will now take about eight months for the astronauts.

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This would be a major shift for a company with a decades-long history in space.

Ten years ago, Boeing acquired The lion’s share of funding Boeing has since lost an additional $1.6 billion on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, more than $4 billion more than the startup SpaceX, which has only received $2.6 billion. Boeing has since lost an additional $1.6 billion on Starliner.

NASA’s goal from the beginning was to have more than one private company that could ferry astronauts and equipment into orbit and back, a strategy that seems smart given Boeing’s difficulties handling the Starliner project.

“This really proves that you need to be redundant,” says McKenna Young, a fellow with the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Sometimes things go wrong and you need that Plan B.”

Young says it’s too early to know if Boeing will pull out of the Starliner program.

“We’re not at the point of failure yet,” Young said. “We can still see the success of this system, if it can return to Earth and land safely.”

Space is a relatively small part of Boeing’s portfolio. The company’s new CEO, Kelly OrtbergThe company faces other pressing issues, such as the transformation of the company’s commercial airline business after major safety and quality control lapses.

The engineering challenges there are very different, but observers say there are some similarities as well.

“Most of Boeing’s problems are cultural,” says Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Aerodynamic Advisory. “It’s a management team that’s completely disconnected from the people who actually design, integrate and manufacture the company’s products. That’s a recipe for trouble. You’ve seen it in jetliners, defense products and now, of course, in space systems.”

Boeing has not said much publicly about the Starliner.

NASA Associate Administrator James Frye (left), Associate Administrator Ken Bowersox, Commercial Crew Manager Steve Stich and International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel speak during a news conference to discuss plans to return two astronauts still stranded on the International Space Station, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Saturday.

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“I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we are prepared to take the necessary actions to support NASA’s decision,” Mark Nappi, Boeing’s head of the Commercial Crew Program, wrote in an internal email shared by the company.

“The focus remains on ensuring the safety of the crew and the spacecraft,” Nabi said. “I have full confidence in this team to prepare Starliner for a safe and successful uncrewed return with the same level of professionalism and determination as you did in the first half of the mission.”

Boeing insisted that the astronauts could have safely returned aboard the Starliner. NASA officials decided not to take the risk. But they have tried to improve NASA’s relationship with Boeing.

“I think the key word here is partnership,” NASA’s Ken Bowersox said during a press conference over the weekend. “A lot of people want to focus on the contractual relationship where we’re buying something from a company. That’s not quite the case, is it? We have a contract with Boeing, but the goal is to work together to develop this capability for our country.”

The partnership between Boeing and NASA continues for now. But the International Space Station is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030. It’s possible that the partnership will end with that — if not before.