Boeing to Sell Starliner? Crewed Test Flight Woes Lead to Struggles in Fulfilling Its NASA Contract

The American multinational company, Boeing, is reportedly considering selling the Starliner program and the spacecraft, as the company faced significant challenges that ended up costing them a lot in the process. It is known that Boeing is currently reeling from its woes faced during the Starliner's first crewed test flight, while arriving at the International Space Station in one piece and returning to Earth, saw a list of problems along the way.

It was also revealed that Boeing is now finding it hard to fulfill the contract that it has with NASA under the Commercial Crew program, particularly for the Starliner, with all of these already weighing down on the company.

Boeing Considers Selling Starliner After Crewed Flight Test Woes

The Wall Street Journal shared a new report claiming that sources who are familiar with Boeing's operations are now sharing that the company is currently considering selling the Starliner, including other parts of its space developments. The other space programs that Boeing is considering selling were not revealed, with the Starliner alone being a massive program for the company.

However, Boeing intends to keep the components that it is building for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the renowned rocket that already saw a successful mission with Artemis I.

One of Boeing's biggest downfalls was the June crewed test flight of the Starliner which faced massive problems en route to the space station, and it returned after over three months without the astronauts.

Can Boeing No Longer Fulfill its NASA Contract?

While Boeing has not yet called quits on the Starliner, it is facing significant challenges in its fulfillment of the $4.3 billion contract with NASA under the Commercial Crew Program which the company is yet to deliver on.

Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, previously foreshadowed this on an earnings call, saying something along the lines of "less is more and more is less," speculated to be its development of the Starliner. That being said, Boeing is facing an additional $250 million charge for the overrun costs of the spacecraft.

Boeing and its Struggles with Starliner

It is over fourteen years since Boeing first made the Starliner known to the world, revealing its promising spacecraft program that will fulfill massive missions from NASA which will transport astronauts to and from the space station. It faced massive delays after facing problems in different aspects of the spacecraft, from faulty valves to its parachutes, with the company pushing back its first launch for many years in this current decade.

The June mission of the Starliner saw a successful launch from Cape Canaveral to orbit aboard the Atlas V, but once it was on its way to the space station, its reaction control system failed during its flight. This led NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to perform hot fire tests to revive the engine, but it also meant that they had to manually pilot the spacecraft and dock to the ISS.

Three months after the mission, Boeing's Starliner was given the green light to return to the planet, but this time, it is going home alone and it left behind the crew members in the ISS to be picked up by SpaceX next year. Starliner already cost a lot to Boeing during its plagued development stage and the company is still facing additional charges, with its CEO's sentiments pointing to selling it instead of continuing with their efforts that may go to waste.