After NASA’s marooned astronauts arrived home in a SpaceX capsule this week, the agency was quick to chart a costly and test-intensive future for the very vehicle that had left the crew trapped in space in the first place.
Boeing Co.’s Starliner is undergoing analysis and upgrades, a test campaign slated for this summer and at least one additional demonstration flight that could cost $400 million or more — all to prove it’s a viable alternative to Elon Musk’s Dragon capsule for getting Americans to orbit.
“We’re working hand-in-hand with Boeing as well on certification of Starliner, getting that vehicle back to flight,’’ Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s commercial crew, told reporters on Tuesday evening.
The return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule “shows how important it is to have two different crew transportation systems,’’ Stich added.
His comments were the most bullish in months about the troubled Boeing program. But a question he and other NASA officials stopped short of answering Tuesday is who would foot the bill for such an extensive test campaign, or even the extent of the company’s commitment.
A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment on Stich’s remarks or elaborate on its plans for Starliner.
Bloomberg has reported that the US planemaker was weighing options for the money-losing program as chief executive Kelly Ortberg looks to prune businesses that are either too niche or have little chance of being commercially viable. As a new leader brought in to get the US manufacturing champion back on track after years of turmoil, Ortberg has free rein to make sweeping changes, including potentially scuttling the initiative.
Ortberg’s portfolio review followed years of technical glitches, setbacks, and more than $1.8 billion in cost overruns with Starliner, offering reasons to doubt the program’s future in Boeing’s lineup. Then came the botched June mission that left Williams and Wilmore stuck at the ISS for nine months rather than the planned few days.
But on Tuesday, Stich pointed to the work Boeing is doing to get to the root of Starliner’s previous issues as evidence that the company is still committed to the program. “Boeing, up to their new CEO Kelly, has been committed to Starliner,’’ Stich said.
Boeing is addressing problems that cropped up during the flight, including with helium leaks and glitch-prone thrusters that are used to position the craft during flight, NASA officials said on Tuesday.
