NASA is pouring additional funding and engineering support into Boeing's troubled Starliner astronaut capsule, aiming to return it to flight as soon as possible after a 2024 test mission that left two pilots stranded aboard the International Space Station for nearly a year and was later classified as a crew-endangering «Type A mishap,» the agency's most severe safety ranking.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Monday that Boeing should be ready to launch a new and improved Starliner to the space station — carrying cargo but no crew — by December. Astronauts will not strap in until 2028 because further safety redesigns will take months, if not years, to complete.
Manager Dana Weigel stressed that everyone must be confident all of Starliner's problems have been resolved before putting astronauts back on board. The additional upgrades and new rocket certifications will cost NASA another $359 million, she said. Among the many fixes are new valves and seals.
«Bottom line: We're on the right path,» said NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who will command the next Starliner flight. Hoburg said Starliner's original test pilots — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, now both retired — are «American heroes and I am deeply humbled to follow in their footsteps.»
The 2024 mission was the culmination of a long and difficult development program. Boeing struggled to carry out a pair of empty Starliner test flights before finally flying astronauts Wilmore and Williams. But the capsule encountered multiple problems, and the two crew members had to hitch a ride back with SpaceX nine months later.
NASA has always wanted two U.S.-based means of getting astronauts to and from orbit. After the space shuttles retired, the agency shelled out billions of dollars to Boeing and SpaceX for ferry service. Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first private business to send astronauts to orbit in 2020. His company will launch its 14th crew for NASA later this week.
But SpaceX intends to phase out its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules in another few years and focus on its newer, larger Starship, which reached orbit for the first time Monday. That is why NASA is so keen to redeem Boeing's repeatedly bedeviled ride.
While the aging space station is due to be abandoned and deorbited by 2031, several private U.S. companies are working on their own orbital outposts that will need reliable taxi service. SpaceX's Starship is too big to dock, and Musk has moon and Mars travel as the company's overriding goals.
Asked why NASA does not simply abandon Starliner and shop elsewhere, Isaacman said: «We always were committed to seeing this through with Boeing, and now we're on a very good path.»