by By Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA’s decision to send the Boeing Starliner capsule home without astronauts follows years of missteps that have plagued the plane in its space business and raises doubts about the unit’s future, analysts and industry sources said.
Bringing NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) was a turning point for Starliner after years of delays, technical glitches and supply chain disasters. Starliner has cost Boeing $1.6 billion in overspending since 2016, according to a Reuters analysis of securities filings.
The astronauts were supposed to stay at the ISS for about eight days, but problems with Starliner have extended that to eight months.
The Starliner’s propulsion system malfunctioned and NASA deemed the troubled thrusters unsafe for the return trip. So Wilmore and Williams will be brought home in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule next year, the latest humiliation for Boeing at the hands of Elon Musk’s space giant.
The mission was intended to be a final test before NASA could certify Starliner for routine flights. Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, must now decide whether to continue pouring money into Starliner, which analysts doubt will ever be profitable, or to sort out the capsule business and focus on rebuilding its battered reputation. aircraft core section.
Elsewhere in its space business, US government watchdogs have repeatedly reported that Boeing is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget as prime contractor on NASA’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, a central vehicle of American lunar program.
And the aerospace giant is looking to sell a separate rocket launch business it jointly owns with Lockheed Martin, Reuters reported last month.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson said he spoke with Ortberg on Saturday and left that conversation 100% certain that Starliner would fly astronauts again. But that’s no guarantee of a long-term commitment if Starliner’s troubles continue.
When asked whether Boeing would remain in the program after the current Starliner mission, a Boeing spokesman declined to comment, telling Reuters the company is focused on getting the spacecraft back safely.
“I’m not sure NASA will ultimately make the decision. Boeing will have to foot a large part of this bill, as it did,” said Lori Garver, a former NASA deputy administrator who was the chief architect of the Crew Program. Commercial NASA.
Ortberg, who took over as CEO this month, is busy trying to convince Boeing workers, investors, airline customers and the flying public that safety issues are under control after a panel dramatically flew from a 737 MAX jet in mid-month January.
Analysts said Boeing is likely to keep Starliner alive, in part because Boeing has had worse experiences in other programs in its defense business. In the future, Starliner could serve customers other than NASA, such as private space stations intended to replace the ISS after 2030, but those efforts could change.
NASA connection
NASA sees Boeing as a vital backup to Musk’s SpaceX, the only entity capable of putting humans into orbit besides US rivals Russia and China.
Boeing has spent more than half of its $4.5 billion NASA contract awarded in 2014 and Starliner has not yet been certified. The contract, which has increased by $300 million despite its fixed price structure, includes six post-certification Starliner missions that will fall further behind with each disaster.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon was certified in 2020 and has flown 10 crewed missions for NASA since the original $2.6 billion contract was signed. NASA has bought more Crew Dragon missions to compensate for Boeing’s delays, increasing SpaceX’s contract to $4.9 billion.
Boeing may have to repeat an astronaut mission to the ISS to get the space capsule certified by NASA. The company has already had to repeat the 2022 uncrewed mission at a cost of nearly $500 million.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out. We have options as to how we move forward,” NASA space operations chief Ken Bowersox, a former astronaut, told reporters Saturday when asked if Starliner can be certified without to have anything to do with it. He did not specify the options.
It’s been five years since the first uncrewed test of the Starliner failed due to some critical software glitches. Since then, SpaceX has surpassed Boeing in rocket launches, space flight crew and satellite manufacturing.
NASA’s inspector general has estimated that the price of a Crew Dragon mission is about $55 million per seat, while the price of a Starliner mission is about $90 million.
Deep problems
For years, Boeing’s space unit has suffered an exodus of skilled staff; many have joined Jeff Bezos’ SpaceX and Blue Origin. Boeing’s clunky supply chain makes designing spacecraft more complicated than Musk’s more nimble, largely vertically integrated operation, according to 10 people who have worked with Boeing’s space unit.
Boeing, in a statement to Reuters, said the company is proud of its Starliner workforce and noted that it has acknowledged the workforce and supply chain challenges surrounding earnings calls.
During the development of Starliner, there were constant problems with the hardware and sometimes the software of the propulsion system. New problems were discovered hours before the spacecraft’s initial launch attempt this summer. Helium, used to push the propellant, was leaking through a small seal in the valve.
NASA saw the leak as low risk and allowed Starliner to launch. But officials said the propulsion system had a “design vulnerability” that Boeing must address before its next mission.
Another problem for Boeing’s space unit is the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. An August report by NASA’s inspector general cited deep quality control issues, saying that the Boeing SLS team in Michoud, Louisiana lacks sufficient experience, training and aerospace instruction in aerospace production in Michoud, Louisiana.
A Boeing spokesman said the company disagrees with many of the report’s “assertions, including any suggestion that our Michoud workforce is unqualified.”
Unlike Starliner, NASA foots the bill for delays and development problems with SLS. The extent of the cost overruns is unclear because NASA does not accurately track them, inspector general reports have repeatedly said.
NASA wants to give ownership of SLS to Boeing and joint contractor Northrop Grumman to reduce costs, but that seems unlikely.
“Boeing’s other businesses are not at risk of serious disruption. But space? That’s another story,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst.
Aboulafia believes Ortberg will crunch the numbers and negotiate with NASA to make Starliner viable, though he’s not sure that’s the right step.
“If I were Kelly Ortberg’s advisor, which I’m not, I would say… for space, savage, you might want to think about selling it,” Aboulafia said.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Joe Brock and David Gregorio)
