NASA will pay Boeing an additional $359 million to fix Starliner's technical problems, clearing the way for the spacecraft to fly astronauts to the International Space Station once SpaceX retires its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. The new money brings Boeing's total haul to $5.5 billion before Starliner has completed a single fully successful mission.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a press conference Monday that SpaceX intends to sunset older platforms like Falcon and Dragon as it concentrates on its next-generation Starship capability. The company has reportedly stopped taking orders for Falcon 9 launches after 2028 and will discontinue flights to the ISS after 2030. Falcon 9 has flown roughly 700 missions since its debut 16 years ago, making it the second-most-launched rocket in history.
Boeing's troubled Starliner gets another shot
To fill the gap, NASA is turning to United Launch Alliance rockets and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. That is notable because Starliner failed to reach the ISS on its first attempt, barely got there on its second, and stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the station for months longer than planned on its third flight — the only flight that carried astronauts.
Still, NASA and Boeing say they have tracked down the causes of the stuck valves, helium leaks and thruster failures that caused those problems. NASA is contracting Boeing to fly Starliner at least five more times, potentially as many as seven. The first flight, an uncrewed test called "Starliner 1," is expected in December 2026 or January 2027, followed by an 18-month pause and then a crewed flight to the ISS in mid-2028, "Starliner 2". NASA Low Earth Orbit Program manager Dana Weigel said that once Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon are gone, "Starliner is what we're intending to fly into the future."
Billions paid before a single clean flight
NASA has already paid Boeing $5.1 billion on a fixed-price contract for a Starliner that has not yet performed successfully, more than SpaceX has received for 13 Crew Dragon missions under its own Commercial Crew contract. The new $359 million is meant to keep Boeing from walking away from the program, which it had reportedly been considering, and pushes the company's total to $5.5 billion before its first fully successful Starliner flight. By comparison, SpaceX's payments through its final Crew Dragon mission, Crew-17, will total $5.9 billion.
Starship is probably too large to dock with the ISS, and rivals such as Blue Origin have only been rumored to be designing their own crewed vehicles. That leaves Starliner, despite its record, as probably the spacecraft closest to being ready to take over Crew Dragon's role.
Source: The Motley Fool
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