Boeing has now misplaced $1.1 billion on Starliner, with no crew flight in sight
Trevor Mahlmann
A troublesome summer season for the Starliner program continued this week, with Boeing reporting further losses on the car’s growth and NASA saying it is too early to debate potential launch dates for the crewed spacecraft.
All through this spring, NASA and Boeing had been working towards a July launch date of the spacecraft, which is able to carry two astronauts for the primary time. Nevertheless, simply weeks earlier than this launch was resulting from happen, Boeing announced on June 1 that there have been two severe points with Starliner. Considered one of these concerned the “comfortable hyperlinks” within the traces that join the Starliner capsule to its parachutes, and the second downside got here with lots of of ft of P-213 glass fabric tape contained in the spacecraft discovered to be flammable.
On Wednesday, as part of its quarterly earnings replace, Boeing announced that the Starliner program had taken a lack of $257 million “primarily because of the impacts of the beforehand introduced launch delay.” This brings the corporate’s whole write-down of losses on the Starliner program to greater than $1.1 billion. Partly due to this, Boeing’s Protection, House, & Safety division reported a lack of $527 million in the course of the second quarter of this yr.
As a result of Starliner was funded by NASA by way of a fixed-price contract, as a part of the Business Crew program, Boeing is accountable for any value overruns and monetary losses resulting from delays.
Work progressing
Throughout a teleconference this week, NASA officers additionally offered the primary substantial replace on Starliner because the June 1 announcement. The company’s program supervisor for Business Crew, Steve Stich, mentioned work is ongoing, however extra stays to be carried out.
The identification of two severe issues so near the spaceflight prompted NASA to take a broader have a look at Starliner and decide whether or not there could be different issues lurking within the spacecraft. “On the NASA aspect, we actually stepped again and checked out all elements of flight preparation,” Stich mentioned.
NASA, Boeing, and the parachute provider, Airborne, have been working by way of the soft-link subject, he mentioned. Engineering groups have recognized a brand new sort of joint that may meet NASA’s security necessities. Nevertheless, Stich didn’t say the extent to which these new comfortable hyperlinks have been area examined, nor how a lot of a take a look at marketing campaign is critical to certify them for flight.
Technicians have additionally eliminated panels from contained in the Starliner spacecraft to entry the flammable tape. This glass fabric tape was wrapped round wiring contained in the spacecraft to guard it from chafing and rubbing in flight. Stich mentioned about three kilos of tape have been faraway from Starliner thus far.
“We have been capable of take away loads of that tape, and that work is progressing very well,” Stich mentioned. NASA and Boeing have recognized a non-flammable alternative, he mentioned.
Schedule issues
Requested whether or not Starliner would possibly have the ability to launch this yr, Stich didn’t provide a concrete timetable. “We’re probably not prepared to speak a few launch alternative but,” he mentioned. “We’ll work the technical points first, after which we’ll sit down with the Boeing staff when the time is true and decide a launch goal.”
Such a solution means that Starliner’s launch on an Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on a take a look at flight to the Worldwide House Station, might very effectively slip into 2024.
Stich made his feedback Tuesday throughout a media teleconference to debate the forthcoming Crew-7 mission on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon car. 9 years in the past, when NASA down-selected to Boeing and SpaceX to offer crew transportation companies to the area station, Boeing was thought of the prohibitive favourite to ship first for NASA. Nevertheless, SpaceX will launch its seventh operational mission and eighth general crew mission for NASA subsequent month.
NASA has already announced that SpaceX will fly its Crew-8 mission for NASA in February or March of subsequent yr. Given the continued delays, it’s now potential that Crew-9 flies subsequent fall, earlier than Boeing’s first operational mission, Starliner-1. NASA has not named a full four-person crew for Starliner-1 however has mentioned that astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke will function commander and pilot.