NASA inspector general suggests Boeing's Starliner will now be a decade late
A NASA inspector general report indicates Boeing's Starliner spacecraft may not be fully certified until 2028, roughly a decade later than the original 2019 target. The delay stems from ongoing technical issues, including problems with thrusters and the parachute system, adding to the program's mounting costs and setbacks.
Background
- Boeing's Starliner is a crew capsule designed to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
- That program was launched in 2010 to end US reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft after the Space Shuttle retired; NASA awarded competing contracts to Boeing (~$4.2B) and SpaceX (~$2.6B) in 2014.
- SpaceX's Crew Dragon succeeded in 2020 and has flown routine missions ever since. Starliner, by contrast, has been plagued by software bugs, valve corrosion, and propulsion issues.
- After a problematic crewed test flight in 2024 that left its astronauts on the ISS for months longer than planned, NASA deemed Starliner too risky for return and brought them home on a Dragon instead.
- A new NASA Inspector General report now projects Starliner won't be certified for regular crew rotation flights until 2027 or later — roughly a decade behind its original 2017 target — at a total cost likely exceeding $6B, raising questions about Boeing's future in the program.