Boeing Faces Major Challenges If Starliner Project Fails to Complete
Last August, Boeing released figures that raised concerns among investors. The Starliner project, which aims to develop a crewed spacecraft, has accumulated a total loss of 1.6 billion USD.
In its quarterly earnings report, Boeing reported a loss of up to 125 million USD from the Starliner project. The report cited delays in the Crew Flight Test, which is still ongoing and represents the first mission of the program to send astronauts into orbit.
These losses primarily stem from delays and the effort to address emerging issues with Starliner. When NASA awarded Boeing a 4.2 billion USD contract to complete the development of the Starliner spacecraft a decade ago, the aerospace contractor predicted that the capsule would be ready to carry astronauts into space by the end of 2017.
Ultimately, the Crew Flight Test is not scheduled for launch until June 5, 2024.
A Starliner spacecraft leaving Boeing’s factory ahead of its first orbital test flight in 2019 – (Photo: Boeing).
When NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to undertake the Starliner and Crew Dragon projects, both aimed at returning humans to space, the parties agreed on a “fixed-price” contract. The terms stipulated that if Boeing and SpaceX “overspend” their production costs, they would have to bear the costs themselves instead of seeking government assistance.
Boeing’s delays in the Starliner project have led to accumulated losses over the periods, reaching 1.6 billion USD. Back in August, Boeing warned investors that losses would continue to grow as the Starliner program extended further.
In contrast, the other contractor has received numerous positive updates: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon program successfully returned astronauts to orbit starting in 2020.
Elon Musk poses in front of the Crew Dragon spacecraft – (Photo: Twitter).
For Elon Musk’s company, all of NASA’s contracts with SpaceX total over 3.1 billion USD, but the costs that SpaceX incurs based on its agreement with NASA have not been disclosed due to SpaceX being a private enterprise.
Observers are quick to compare Boeing and SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company has completed all six initial crewed flights for NASA, while Boeing still has at least another year before it can begin utilizing Starliner. Due to Boeing’s delays, NASA has extended its commercial crew contract with SpaceX to include an additional eight round trips to the International Space Station (ISS) through the end of this decade.
Boeing’s leadership partly attributes the blame to the nature of the fixed-price contract. However, Boeing has simultaneously signed similar agreements with the Pentagon to produce Air Force One aircraft for presidential transportation, drones, training aircraft, and many other projects. According to insiders, Boeing has also failed to turn a profit from these contracts.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has achieved significant success with its fixed-price contracts. NASA has also successfully applied this model with Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company.
Boeing is currently facing the challenge of resolving helium leak and engine overheating issues on the Starliner for future missions.
Starliner failed to recover two astronauts from the International Space Station due to engine failure and helium leaks – (Photo: NASA).
NASA hopes that a successful test flight of Starliner will allow the agency to fly regularly to the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of this year, paving the way for Boeing to conduct its first operational flight of Starliner, named Starliner-1, in February 2025.
At the end of July, NASA announced a six-month delay for the Starliner-1 mission to allow more time to address the issues faced by the spacecraft during the crewed test flight.
