Boeing’s Starliner Program Faces More Delays and Losses

Boeing’s Starliner program, which aims to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on a commercial spacecraft, has suffered another setback. The company announced last month that it had to postpone the first crewed launch of Starliner indefinitely due to two technical issues.

The delay has added to the mounting costs of the program, which has now reached $1.5 billion in losses. Boeing was awarded a fixed-price contract of nearly $5 billion by NASA to develop Starliner, but it has faced multiple challenges and delays along the way.

One of the issues that caused the latest postponement was related to the “soft links” that connect the capsule to its parachutes. The other problem involved flammable tape that was wrapped around wiring inside the spacecraft. Boeing is working with NASA and its suppliers to fix these problems and find a new launch date.

Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said on Jul. 26 that the company is “in lockstep” with NASA on Starliner development and that it prioritizes safety. He added that the company is confident in its team and committed to getting it right.

Starliner is competing with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has already flown six missions to the ISS with NASA astronauts on board. SpaceX was awarded a $2.6 billion contract by NASA in 2014 for its commercial crew program.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, msn.com, cnbc.com, news.yahoo.com, arstechnica.com