Starliner Still Has Issues (Update)
Keith’s note: According to an official press release issued on 9 May “NASA and Boeing will hold a media teleconference at about 6 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 11”. So when you go to the NASA media page for the beginning of the event around 6:00 pm EDT the official website says “5:30 p.m. – Media briefing for NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2)”. The media event ended at 6:11 pm EDT. Neat trick to get media and/or the public who wanted to listen in to miss the event. From what I can tell NASA seems to have managed to confuse the space press corps.
Lift And Mate Of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner For OFT-2
NASA, Boeing to Discuss Readiness of Uncrewed Flight Test
“NASA and Boeing will hold a media teleconference at about 6 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 11, following the Flight Readiness Review for the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), the second uncrewed flight test of the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website.”
Boeing clashes with key supplier ahead of Starliner spacecraft launch, Reuters via CNN
“The disagreement, which has not been reported before, comes at time when Boeing already is scrambling to emerge from successive crises that have hobbled its jetliner business and drained cash. The Aerojet dispute is the latest illustration of Boeing’s struggles with Starliner, a program costing the company $595 million in charges since 2019. Facing fixed-price NASA contracts that leave Boeing with little wiggle room financially, the company has pressed forward with the Starliner test. Boeing in a statement provided by a spokesperson to Reuters acknowledged for the first time that it ultimately intends to redesign Starliner’s valve system to prevent a repeat of the issue that forced last year’s test-flight postponement. The Boeing statement said that “we are working on short- and long-term design changes to the valves.”
Even more delays and screw-ups. Maybe they should just cut their losses if it’s going to be another big expensive delay, bow out of the program.
Is it going to be more expensive than losing most of the milestone payments and the bulk of the funding for Starliner development, as well as potentially losing future contracts due to their failure to finish Starliner development?
NASA needs to rename this mission to Capricorn One
Landliner CST-100
Now THAT’S funny.
The Boeing Excellence Team has been busy training for years.
One doozy from the Telecom is during a 2017 Starliner test a subcontractor injured his leg and it required amputation….
https://twitter.com/michael…
Holy cow!
Anyone else suddenly get a “cursed vessel’ vibe up their spine?
Here in the midwest we call it snake-bit
I’d like to see us have a manned backup to Dragon and Boeing is the closest so far. Lets see if they can pull it off.
Fair enough. I hope they succeed as well. Nonetheless they charged far more money, did not test sufficiently, and Space X will have launched 30 people to orbit before Boeing launches one. We would be in very poor shape now had we relied solely on Boeing.
It looks like, even though they have created moisture barriers for the valves, they are considering redesigning the valves. Granted that a redesign will cost time and money, my question is: Why didn’t they consider redesign in parallel with kludging up moisture barriers? Also considering that SpaceX is not going to build any more than the four Crew Dragons (probably “betting on the come” for the Starship), it would still be a good idea to “have another arrow in our quiver” with the Boeing Starliner.
SpaceX is still capable of making more Dragon capsules if needed.
I would agree that CST-100 is closer to flight with crew than any other alternative to Dragon & Soyuz, but I would not completely count out Sierra Space as the dark horse in this race, especially if Boeing suffers any new setbacks of a similar magnitude as the ones they’ve had to overcome so far. At a certain point, Boeing may decide to cut their losses.
Dreamchaser was originally intended to be a crew launch and return vehicle, and when they lost out on the initial contract, they pivoted to cargo only. Sierra Space have already stated publicly they are interested in pursuing a future round of commercial crew launches after they have had a number of successful cargo Dreamchaser flights.
Dream Chaser 200, the crew version, is targeting 2026. At the rate Boeing is going…..
It sure seems like Boeing needs wipe their slate clean and redefine their management structure and philosophy based on good engineering practices, not on what saves them the most money. The 737 Max issues and the issues with Starliner point to a decided lack of proper testing and possibly to management not listening to the concerns of the actual engineers.
SpaceX does the opposite, and hopefully the Dream Chaser crew will focus on proper engineering and safety and not place cost above those considerations.
Boeing started turning into a disaster in 1997, when they merged with McDonnell Douglas and let the McDonnell Douglas managers take over the company. I don’t see any hope of them wiping the slate clear or redefining the their management structure or philosophy. The people who would have to make those changes are the same senior managers who are happy about how things stand now. Or, more properly, the senior managers who are happy about their current salaries, bonus packages and who will be retired long before their mismanagement causes Boeing to go bankrupt.
Didn’t the Jack Welch management style malaise cause institutional damage, such as separating management from the ‘distractions’ of engineering and operations in the HQ relocation to Chicago?
If you have an abundance of disposable pilots proper maintenance and design is not an issue.
The Boeing Company.