NASA’s $4.5 billion starliner deal with Boeing cut to 4 planes after crazy failure
Following several delays, mishaps, and a chartered crew, Boeing’s Starliner Saga isn’t over just yet. NASA is revising its commercial contract with Boeing, reducing the number of Starliner missions to the International Space Station (ISS) pending difficult tests to prove that the spacecraft can get the job done.
This week, NASA announced changes to its 2014 contract with Boeing, reducing the number of Starliner missions to four instead of six instead of six instead of options. The agency also revealed that the next Starliner Mission will not have a crew on board but instead will be used to deliver cargo to the ISS and “Allow the flight verification of the program renewal program following the Crew Flight Test flight last year. The mission, named Starliner-1, is scheduled before the start of April 2026 for the certification of the spacecraft and other operational readiness activities.
“NASA and Boeing continue to rigorously evaluate the Starliner Propulsion system in preparation for two possible flights next year,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Clew Program, said in a statement. “This change allows NASA and Boeing to focus on ensuring the program is safe through 2026, makes Starliner’s First evolution when I’m ready, and aligns the ongoing flight planning for Starliner operations based on 2030.”
Try and try again
On June 5, 2024, the Starliner launched NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams to the ISS on its first ISS. On the way to the space station, five strategic ports failed, and five helium leaks began, one of which was identified before liftoff. NASA saw a spacecraft that was not fit to carry the stars home and returned home and brought its team back on board spacex’s spacecraft instead. An empty Starliner looking like the ISS returned to Earth later in September.
Under its first $4.5 billion contract with NASA, Boeing was scheduled to deliver a scheduled mission to the ISS. Following the recorded test flight, the agency hoped the Starliner could begin operations as early as 2025. Its flawed mission, however, meant that the spacecraft would not be launched again before Boeing introduced further modifications.
Instead of using the starliner, NASA was forced to turn to Spacex to launch its crew-10 and crew-12 mission with crew-12 then downgraded in February 2026.
The ISS is due to retire in 2030, leaving little room for Boeing to bring NASA’s astronaut team to the space station. However, the agency is not offering the Starliner program now. “Certification of BOEIng’s Starliner remains critical to NASA’s mission to support human presence in low Earth orbit,” Nasa wrote.
