NASA boss says SpaceX has outperformed Boeing

NASA’s Bill Nelson told Newsweek that critics “poo-pooed” SpaceX when it was bidding for the agency’s crew programs. Yet, SpaceX has accomplished a lot compared with Boeing, he said.
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NASA has awarded SpaceX 14 missions and Boeing six missions.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said critics dismissed SpaceX when it was up against Boeing but Elon Musk’s company has actually achieved more, according to Newsweek.

The US space agency has awarded SpaceX a total of 14 missions. The most recent agreement was a $1.4 billion contract for five more astronaut missions to the International Space Station.

In contrast, NASA has awarded Boeing six missions. The company still hasn’t managed to launch its Starliner spacecraft, designed to fly astronauts to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew program.

“When there was the beginning of the space cargo and crew [programs], the two serious bidders were SpaceX and Boeing, and everybody poo-pooed SpaceX and said, ‘Oh, Boeing is a legacy company,'” Nelson told Newsweek. “Well, guess who is about to make its sixth flight after its first test flight with astronauts, and guess who’s still on the ground?”

SpaceX is “on track” to get its massive Starship spacecraft off the ground and carry humans all the way to the moon, according to Nelson. Starship completed a static fire test on Thursday, firing up six of its engines, per SpaceX.

“I think the private space industry is extremely beneficial,” Nelson told Newsweek. “Just look at what SpaceX has already accomplished.”

Nelson’s comments follow the second launch attempt for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) being delayed in early September because of a liquid hydrogen leak. The launch is part of the agency’s Artemis mission, which will eventually send humans back to the moon.

It took NASA 12 years to build the SLS. In comparison, SpaceX started launching Starship prototypes in December 2020 and wants its first orbital launch to take place this year.

Although NASA has contracted SpaceX for 14 missions, the agency has previously said that the company’s plan to send another 30,000 Starlink satellites into orbit could create “substantial congestion.”