It’s hard to imagine a more stressful version of the Boeing Starliner saga, but an insider’s look into the fateful encounter a decade ago reveals that things could have been much worse. One thing became clear.
NASA is reportedly cooperating fully with Boeing and considering selecting Boeing’s Starliner as the only commercial spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). There is. excerpt from the book Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the reusable rockets that sparked a second space age By Eric Berger of Ars Technica.
In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing and SpaceX a contract to develop a spacecraft capable of carrying crew and cargo to the ISS as part of the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX excelled at that mission. The company has transported eight crew members to the orbiting space station since November 2020. Its counterpart, on the other hand, had a disastrous first attempt to launch two NASA astronauts. On September 6, Boeing’s Starliner undocked from the ISS and returned to Earth, but the crew was stranded due to multiple issues that made the spacecraft unfit to return astronauts. .
Starliner launched to the ISS on June 5, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams. The spacecraft remained docked at the space station for three months as teams on the ground debated whether to return the crew to the disabled spacecraft. During the flight to the ISS, five of the spacecraft’s thrusters failed and the spacecraft developed five helium leaks, one of which was identified before launch. The mission team conducted tests on the ground and tried to identify the main issue behind the thruster failure before ultimately returning the unmanned Starliner and returning the crew to SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. has been decided.
Given how things turned out, choosing Boeing as its sole commercial partner would have been an incredibly bad choice for NASA. But at the time, Boeing was the more reliable option, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX was a flashy upstart that hadn’t had a chance to prove itself yet. NASA officials have tilted toward Boeing, leaving out SpaceX and allocating most of the space agency’s commercial crew budget to the company.
In Berger’s book, officials detail how in a meeting of spaceflight advisors and NASA officials, the majority chose Boeing over SpaceX. NASA also had a tight budget and decided to award the contract to one company instead of choosing two.
“We really didn’t have the budget for two companies at the time,” Phil McAllister, director of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told Berger. “No one expected us to win two. I always say ‘more than one’ and people roll their eyes at me.”
A review committee scored companies based on price, mission fit, and past performance. SpaceX submitted a low bid of $2.6 billion, while Boeing asked for $4.2 billion. Boeing beat SpaceX in the other two categories. Ironically, while Boeing received an “excellent” rating for mission suitability, meaning its ability to safely shuttle crew members to and from the ISS, SpaceX received an “excellent” rating. It received a “good” rating. Boeing also received a “very high” rating based on past performance, and SpaceX also received a “high” rating.
In the end, Boeing’s refusal to allow in-flight testing of the Starliner’s abort system, a thruster designed to propel the craft if the rocket fails during liftoff, was a critical factor. Boeing’s bid was deemed unsatisfactory by NASA’s director of safety and mission assurance because Boeing only intended to test the abort system on the ground. The low asking price in SpaceX’s bid also allowed NASA to consider choosing two companies instead of one.
Berger said the decision was so close that NASA had to rewrite the commercial crew contract to include both companies, after already drafting a contract that appointed only Boeing.
The retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle has increased the need for a new spacecraft for ISS astronauts. The space agency has invested heavily in building partnerships with commercial aerospace companies as it seeks to wean itself from dependence on Russia’s Soyuz for crew transport. It’s hard to imagine how things would have turned out if NASA had chosen only Boeing’s Starliner to transport astronauts into Earth orbit. Actually, it’s possible, but it’s a total nightmare.
SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule allows NASA to end its reliance on a strained partnership with Russia and gives the space agency access to the ISS at a much lower cost. Boeing, on the other hand, fell behind and lost the initial credibility its traditional name had brought it within the industry. The ongoing saga of both companies illustrates the spaceflight industry’s growing pains and the need to meet increasing demand. NASA would be in an even worse situation today if it had not chosen to cause competition within the industry and had simply invested in Boeing as a safe choice.
more: Boeing wants to stop saying that the Starliner ISS test was a failure.
