NASA and Boeing remain committed to reviving their troubled Starliner spacecraft, despite a $2 billion investment and years of delays. The agency’s commercial crew program head, Steve Stich, revealed that Boeing is making significant changes to the astronaut shuttle following its disastrous first crewed mission last year.
The spacecraft experienced “in-flight anomalies” forcing it to make an emergency landing, leaving two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for nine months. Boeing faces intense competition from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which has successfully sent 11 crews to the ISS over five years.
Despite this, NASA plans to continue developing Starliner, with the goal of conducting crew rotation flights as early as next year. However, these timelines have been pushed back several times, and it’s now expected that the spacecraft will become operational in 2026 – a full 11 years after initial expectations.
To reduce costs, Boeing is considering flying only cargo on its Starliner spacecraft, which could further delay its crewed mission. The project has faced numerous setbacks, including a near-cancellation last year, but Boeing’s new CEO has vowed to fix the thruster issues and make the program “pretty straightforward.”
The competition between NASA and SpaceX is heating up, with Elon Musk announcing plans to shut down his Dragon spacecraft just days after making a public feud with President Trump. However, Musk later reversed course and agreed to keep working with NASA on the ISS. The future of Starliner remains uncertain, but it’s clear that Boeing still has a long way to go before its troubled program is revived.
Source: https://futurism.com/life-mess-boeing-starliner