With two astronauts still stranded on the International Space Station, no one would categorize the Boeing Starliner’s 2024 crewed test flight as a success. Boeing has now lost $2 billion on Starliner after the aerospace giant announced a $523 million loss across last year on the spacecraft program on Monday. However, Boeing is still evaluating options to salvage the program.
Boeing’s massive financial losses result from the manufacturer’s development struggles and the fixed-price nature of the Commercial Crew Program. NASA created the program to procure a Space Shuttle to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. In 2014, the agency awarded contracts to both Boeing and SpaceX. Boeing received $4.2 billion to develop the Starliner and complete six crewed missions. Any dollar beyond the contract’s total comes out of Boeing’s pocket.
The Starliner isn’t quite dead yet, as NASA is still considering the future of Boeing’s spacecraft. The space agency could certify the Starliner for crew rotation missions despite the failed test flight, Ars Technica reports. The hope would be that Starliner’s flaws are ironed out on the ground and don’t need trialing in orbit. A more cautious option on the table is operating a cargo mission with Starliner to test fixes to its propulsion system.
Boeing can only climb out of the red financially by completing six crewed missions and being awarded a contract extension. SpaceX did just that and earned seven additional missions valued at $275.4 million per flight. However, CCP missions are going to lose their destination, and SpaceX’s CEO is now in indirect control of NASA. Ars Technica reported:
NASA plans to retire the International Space Station around 2030, so the opportunities are dwindling for NASA to use Starliner for all six of the crew ferry flights on contract. In November, Musk posted on X: “There is no logical purpose to Starliner, given that NASA plans to deorbit Space Station in ~5 years.”
Elon Musk will definitely use his sway within the federal government to grant SpaceX every possible NASA mission. The space agency might just fly the six missions it already paid for and then shove Boeing out of the airlock.