Staff Reports
NASA’s latest decision regarding Boeing’s Starliner is reminiscent of an all-too-familiar situation—over-promising and under-delivering. The agency’s Flight Readiness Review participants unanimously agreed that astronauts Butch Williams and Suni Wilmore would take a little detour from the International Space Station instead of returning home aboard the much-hyped Starliner. Instead, they’ll rely on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which has been doing the heavy lifting while Boeing fumbles the ball.
The reasoning behind this definitive choice is anything but surprising. While engineers in White Sands, New Mexico have successfully replicated the thruster issues plaguing Starliner, they are still scratching their heads trying to figure out why. It’s hard to believe that Aerojet Rocketdyne, the manufacturer of the thrusters, is as puzzled as NASA is. This hardly inspires confidence in a spaceship that’s supposed to ferry astronauts through the cosmos. Generally speaking, one doesn’t want to learn about thruster failures while trudging through the atmosphere with humans aboard.
Looking ahead, the big question looms—what happens next for Boeing and its rejuvenated dreams of space exploration? It’s safe to say NASA is not about to hand Starliner the green light for crewed missions anytime soon, especially after this latest hiccup. In fact, another successful crewed test flight to the ISS may be in the cards, and if history is any indicator, it looks like Boeing will have to front the bill for that one. After all, a fixed-price contract means Boeing will foot the extra costs after their self-imposed delays and failures.
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The Starliner drama has been a major setback for Boeing’s space ambitions, adding to years of struggle to get the capsule off the ground and… pic.twitter.com/RivMfnosyV— Zeno Calhoun (@zenoc_oshits) August 25, 2024
Following this debacle, it’s clear that NASA has committed to only three of the planned six crewed Starliner flights, leaving Boeing feeling as though they’re standing at the edge of a cliff without a parachute. If Boeing hopes to break even, they’ll need to pull off some miracle on these three remaining flights—an uphill battle that seems more and more unlikely. If they decide to throw in the towel on Starliner, the financial ramifications could leave their balance sheets resembling Swiss cheese.
Despite years of development, significant funding, and promises, Boeing appears to be stuck in a quagmire of testing, failures, and legal jargon that nobody really wants to hear. Their Starliner webpage continues boasting of high optimism for a crewed return, which is a little like shouting from within a burning building that everything is fine. The executives may know the truth, but they have yet to gather the courage to acknowledge the colossal failure that is swiftly approaching.
In the meantime, as Boeing flounders, SpaceX rises. The contrast couldn’t be clearer. While one company perpetually spins its wheels, the other is launching successful missions and even taking astronauts into orbit. It will be fascinating to see if Boeing can right the ship before they find themselves overshadowed, not just by SpaceX but by the vast landscape of the private aerospace sector. The narrative of a company once revered for its engineering prowess slowly morphing into a cautionary tale of mismanagement is one that many will watch with bated breath.
