. 24/7 Space News .
SPACE TRAVEL
Boeing Starliner to cost $90 Million per seat
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (Sputnik) Nov 20, 2019

Baggage and in flight meals included.

NASA's Inspector General (IG) predicts that the US will have to spend $90 million per seat for flights on the CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft currently being constructed by Boeing to transport people to the International Space Station (ISS).

In a report released last week, the IG also stated that the estimated average cost per seat for flights on SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which is contracted under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program to also deliver people to the ISS, is approximately $55 million. The findings revealed that both Boeing and SpaceX "face significant safety and technical challenges with parachutes, propulsion, and launch abort systems that need to be resolved prior to receiving NASA authorization to transport crew to the ISS."

"The complexity of these issues has already caused at least a 2-year delay in both contractors' development, testing, and qualification schedules and may further delay certification of the launch vehicles by an additional year," the report continued.

In a November 14 tweet, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said that it doesn't "seem right" that Boeing is being paid more per seat for its Starliner than the SpaceX is receiving for the Dragon capsule, adding: "meaning [it's] not fair that Boeing gets so much more for the same thing."

Boeing released a statement Monday refuting several claims made in the NASA IG report.

"We strongly disagree with the report's conclusions about CST-100 Starliner pricing and readiness, and we owe it to the space community and the American public to share the facts the Inspector General [IG] missed," Jim Chilton, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Launch, is quoted as saying in the statement.

"Each member of the Boeing team has a personal stake in the safety, quality and integrity of what we offer our customers, and since Day One, the Starliner team has approached this program with a commitment to design, develop and launch a vehicle that we and NASA can be proud of."

In regards to to the per-seat cost estimate, Boeing said that its craft "will fly the equivalent of a fifth passenger in cargo for NASA, so the per-seat pricing should be considered based on five seats rather than four."

"For proprietary, competitive reasons Boeing does not disclose specific pricing information, but we are confident our average seat pricing to NASA is below the figure cited," the statement added.

However, the IG report tells a different story, claiming that NASA agreed to pay Boeing $287.2 million above its fixed prices "to mitigate a perceived 18-month gap in ISS flights anticipated in 2019 for the company's third through sixth crewed missions and to ensure the company continued as a second commercial crew provider."

"For these four missions, NASA essentially paid Boeing higher prices to address a schedule slippage caused by Boeing's 13-month delay in completing the ISS Design Certification Review milestone," the report continued.

The crew demonstration flights on the Starliner and Dragon are slated to take place some time in 2020.

Source: RIA Novosti


Related Links
NASA's Inspector General
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SPACE TRAVEL
NASA adds 5 more companies to bid for work on moon mission
Washington (UPI) Nov 19, 2019
NASA has announced the addition of five new companies eligible to bid for the contracts for the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. SpaceX, Blue Origin, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems are all working to design and build lunar landers capable of delivering science and technology payloads, including rovers and science experiments, to the moon's surface. The five new companies will compete for contracts with nine previously announc ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
Sierra Nevada Corp. ships Shooting Star cargo module to Kennedy Space Center

NASA adds 5 more companies to bid for work on moon mission

Audit criticizes NASA for payments to Boeing in human spaceflight program

NASA overpaid Boeing by hundreds of millions of dollars: auditor

SPACE TRAVEL
China sends five satellites into orbit via single rocket

SpaceX Crew Dragon releases photos of emergency escape engines test

Arianespace will orbit TIBA-1 and Inmarsat GX5 with Ariane 5

Roscosmos creates rocket-monitoring system using technology found in smart homes

SPACE TRAVEL
Human Missions to Mars

Mars scientists investigate ancient life in Australia

China completes Mars lander test ahead of 2020 mission

At future Mars landing spot, scientists spy mineral that could preserve signs of past life

SPACE TRAVEL
China plans to complete space station construction around 2022: expert

China conducts hovering and obstacle avoidance test in public for first Mars lander mission

Beijing eyes creating first Earth-Moon economic zone

China conducts simulated weightlessness experiment for long-term stay in space

SPACE TRAVEL
China sends two global multimedia satellites into planned orbit

Tesla Completes Acquisition of Maxwell Technologies

Space Talks 2019: bringing space to you

EU must boost spending in space or be squeezed out: experts

SPACE TRAVEL
Army project may lead to new class of high-performance materials

Headwall and geo-konzept Announce Hyperspectral Remote-Sensing Center in Europe

Amazon says 'bias' in Pentagon awarding $10 bn contract to Microsoft

Multimaterial 3D printing manufactures complex objects, fast

SPACE TRAVEL
Exoplanet axis study boosts hopes of complex life, just not next door

First detection of sugars in meteorites gives clues to origin of life

NASA's TESS helps astronomers study red-giant stars, examine a too-close planet

Making planets in a rocket

SPACE TRAVEL
Aquatic rover goes for a drive under the ice

NASA finds Neptune moons locked in 'Dance of Avoidance'

NASA scientists confirm water vapor on Europa

New Horizons Kuiper Belt Flyby object officially named 'Arrokoth'









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.