NASA Inspector General Delivers Harsh Assessment of Boeing Quality Control

The report added that many of the flaws identified were ultimately not fixed.

“Boeing’s process for addressing deficiencies to date has been ineffective, and the company has generally been unresponsive in taking corrective action when the same quality control issues recur,” the company said in a statement.

In response to a request for comment, a Boeing representative sent a message to NBC News back to NASA.

In a written response accompanying the report, Katherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Directorate, said the agency holds its programs to “the highest technical and software standards.”

“NASA is committed to ensuring that its workforce and associated contractors are properly qualified and trained to ensure the safety of its missions,” Koerner wrote.

The report included several recommendations, including imposing “financial penalties for Boeing’s failure to comply with quality control standards.” However, the inspector general said NASA decided not to impose any financial discipline.

The 322-foot-tall Space Launch System and its accompanying Orion spacecraft are designed to launch astronauts to the moon. The ultimate goal is to build a base on the moon.

NASA completed an uncrewed test flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule in 2022, a mission called Artemis I. It is expected to launch four astronauts on the system’s first crewed flight around the moon (Artemis II) next year.

In addition to the first-generation SLS rocket, NASA is also developing a more powerful model that can carry more cargo to the moon. Boeing is the prime contractor for the upper stage of this upgraded version, known as the Space Launch System Block 1B. It began work in 2014.

The initial plan called for using the updated rocket system to send Artemis II astronauts around the moon, but the timeline was pushed back — changes that delayed the development schedule and increased costs, according to the inspector general.

The new report says the SLS Block 1B version is likely to cost around $5.7 billion by the time it launches.

The assessment is the latest setback for NASA’s moon-return program, which has been plagued by delays and budget overruns. NASA has spent more than $42 billion over more than a decade on the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

Last year, NASA’s inspector general estimated that each Artemis launch would cost $4.2 billion.