The legacy company needing aid from an upstart rival is hardly welcome news to the aerospace giant.
Because of problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, two astronauts who rode on it to the International Space Station in June will finally return to Earth on a vessel built by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
NASA's announcement Saturday of that plan represents a blow -- even a humiliation -- for Boeing, a historic partner of the American space agency.
It couldn't come at a worse time for Boeing. The sterling reputation its airplanes have long enjoyed has been seriously eroded by a series of malfunctions and two fatal crashes in recent years.
"It's not a good time for Boeing," Erik Seedhouse, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.
For Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts who flew to the ISS on Starliner, to have to return on a SpaceX craft is "very embarrassing," he added.
"It is an image problem," agreed Cai von Rumohr, an aeronautics analyst with TD Cowen, adding that it "could endanger future contracts with NASA."
But Boeing's status and mammoth size give it considerable capacity to bounce back.
"I don't think Boeing is going anywhere," said Glenn Lightsey, a professor at the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech University.
Boeing has engendered cost overruns of some $1.6 billion in developing Starliner, hit by repeated delays in development and price hikes linked to supply chain problems.
But to put that in context, Boeing's Defense, Space & Security division had turnover of $24.93 billion in 2023 -- while the overall company had revenues of $77.79 billion.
"Yes, they can recover, because they're a juggernaut," said Seedhouse.
- Regaining confidence -
Despite repeated delays in the Starliner program, NASA has never suggested any weakening of the collaboration with Boeing since first placing orders for space "taxis" in 2014 from both Boeing and SpaceX.
The US space agency has repeatedly insisted its goal is to have two vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, a sort of insurance plan in case one has problems.
What Boeing needs to do to regain confidence, Seedhouse said, is "to solve all these problems and have a successful re-flight sometime next year, probably, with another crew on board."
The company has insisted the two problems Starliner has encountered -- helium leaks and a defective propulsive system -- are fixable.
Such problems are not a "huge surprise," Lightsey said, adding that "it's still early development for Starliner."
The craft has undergone three orbital tests, two of them uncrewed.
"It's really only after maybe you get five missions under your belt" that "you know how everything is going to behave in space," he added.
"Even if it takes a couple more flights, I don't expect NASA to give up on them."
- A tough comparison -
The comparison between the rival programs of Boeing and SpaceX is nonetheless embarrassing for the older and much larger firm.
Musk's company was widely seen as an outsider in 2014 and received $2.6 billion for the project, compared to Boeing's $4.2 billion.
Yet for the past four years it has been the sole means for astronauts to travel to and from the ISS.
SpaceX had one advantage from the start: its Dragon vessel has been resupplying the ISS since 2012.
But Boeing, for its part, has a long history with NASA, with decades of work on the US space program.
"They were involved with the Apollo program; they built some of the modules on the space station," Seedhouse said.
"So it's a surprise that, in such a short period... they've gone from being a company that's performed very well to a company that has been making mistakes, left, right and center."
He said there was no single reason for the serial setbacks, but that "problems with standards and quality control" at Boeing "apply both to the spacecraft side of things and also to the aircraft."
Because of its size, Seedhouse said, Boeing is intrinsically more bureaucratic than SpaceX, where decisions can be made quickly.
But the dynamic could change one day.
At some future point, Lightsey said, "SpaceX will need help, and Boeing will be able to return the favor.
"I assume it will all come full circle eventually."
Boeing's Starliner: a saga marked by setbacks
Washington (AFP) Aug 25, 2024 -
The decision to transfer the crew of Boeing's Starliner to a SpaceX mission after the spacecraft malfunctioned is just the latest twist in a long saga that has undermined the credibility of the US aerospace giant.
Here is a recap of the setbacks and delays on Starliner's journey to fly a crew to the International Space Station -- and how it was unable to bring them back again.
- 2014: Nasa awards contract -
A decade ago NASA chose two companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to each develop a new spacecraft capable of transporting its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
The US space agency asked both to be ready for 2017, as it sought to end its dependence on the Russian spacecraft it had used to ferry astronauts to the ISS since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.
Boeing was awarded a $4.2 billion contract, against SpaceX's $2.6 billion. At the time, billionaire Elon Musk's young company was widely seen as the underdog against Boeing's aerospace might.
- 2019: Failed unmanned flight -
During a first unmanned flight in December 2019, the capsule failed to set itself on the right trajectory and returned to Earth prematurely after two days, without reaching the ISS.
The problem was due to a clock that was eleven hours late, preventing the capsule from firing its thrusters at the scheduled time.
NASA then realized that another software problem could have led to a catastrophic collision.
The manufacturer was given a long list of recommendations and modifications to make.
- 2021: False hope -
In August 2021, when the rocket was already on the launch pad for another attempt at flight, unexpected moisture caused a chemical reaction that blocked the opening of some of the capsule's valves.
The capsule returned to the factory for inspection over a period of several months.
The delay was in stark contrast to the progress being made by SpaceX, which had been successfully transporting astronauts to the ISS since 2020.
- 2022: First (unmanned) success -
In May 2022, Starliner finally completed its first unmanned test flight.
Despite a few glitches -- including a propulsion system problem detected in flight, but with no adverse consequences -- the capsule lifted off, reached the ISS where it remained docked for several days, and returned safely to Earth.
- 2023: New worries, new delays -
Starliner's nascent momentum was arrested in 2023 when new problems emerged, delaying preparations for its first manned flight.
One concerned the design of the parachutes that would slow the capsule as it re-entered the atmosphere. It was modified and new tests carried out.
The other was even more surprising: adhesive tape, used over several meters to wrap electrical cables inside the capsule, proved to be flammable and had to be removed.
- 2024: First manned flight goes awry -
The big day finally arrived on June 5, 2024: the capsule lifted off with two astronauts for the first time, a final test mission to prove it was safe before beginning regular operations to the ISS.
But leaks of helium, the gas used to create pressure in the propulsion system, were discovered in flight.
Several thrusters then failed before the capsule docked with the ISS, although all but one were eventually reignited.
NASA feared the capsule would not be able to achieve the thrust necessary to return to Earth.
As a result, the space agency took a radical decision: to transfer the two astronauts to a SpaceX mission, and return Starliner empty.
Analysis of the flight will determine the path forward -- and how long any new delays will last.
Boeing has already gone $1.6 billion over budget on the program.
Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
