Why is Boeing crewed space test signifi cant?
When was the project announced? What delayed the mission? By how much has the budget been overshot? How many missions has competitor Space◣ ‹own to the International Space Station? Why is the crewed space ‹ight important for Boeing?
The story so far:
At 8.04 am IST on May 7, an Atlas V rocket is set to lift o¤ with a team of two veteran astronauts — Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams — sitting inside a spacecraft called Starliner, built by Boeing, on the capsule’s third test ¯ight and the ¡rst with astronauts on board. The astronauts will be set for the International Space Station (ISS) in low-earth orbit. If the mission succeeds, the U.S. will for the ¡rst time in its history have two spacecraft to launch astronauts to space.
What is the Boeing Starliner?
Starliner is a spacecraft that transports astronauts in space, after being launched there by a rocket. It consists of a crew capsule and a service module. The crew capsule houses the astronauts; like others of its kind, it will be able to survive reentry and return to the ground. The service module consists of the equipment and systems the astronauts need to survive in space, including air and temperature control, water supply, sanitation, etc., plus the engines and fuel required to manoeuvre the spacecraft. The service module won’t be reusable.
Starliner is more than 4 metres wide and can house up to seven astronauts. It can be ¡tted atop an Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Since 2014, a dark cloud has hung above Boeing over issues with its commercial airliners
When was Starliner commissioned?
On September 16, 2014, NASA announced it had awarded contracts to Space◣ and Boeing to ¯y astronauts to the ISS. The “maximum potential values” of the ¡xed price contracts, based on U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulations, were $4.2 billion for Boeing and $2.6 billion for Space◣.
Boeing was expected to conduct Starliner’s ¡rst crewed launch in 2017. A slew of delays followed, however, and its ¡rst uncrewed orbital test ¯ight happened only in December 2019, when the capsule was launched and expected to dock with the ISS. But a software error left it in the wrong orbit and it returned safely to ground the next day without docking. In May 2022, Boeing repeated the test ¯ight, this time as a full success — docking with the ISS, undocking after four days, and returning to the ground. The May 7 test will repeat this procedure but with astronauts onboard.
Even if the launch happens on time, it will ultimately have been delayed by seven years and with Boeing having overshot its budget by $1.4 billion. Boeing identi¡ed many technical problems even after the 2022 ¯ight, and then there was the pandemic.
What is Starliner’s purpose?
Since being awarded the NASA contracts,
Space◣ has ¯own 13 missions to the ISS onboard its Dragon crew capsule (which can also house seven astronauts). Assuming Starliner’s crewed test ¯ight is successful, Space◣ and Boeing will take turns launching astronauts to the ISS — each crew’s expedition lasts up to six months — until the ISS is decommissioned next decade. After NASA shut its Space Shuttle programme in 2011 and before Space◣’s Dragon capsule got ready in 2020, only Russia’s Soyuz rocket and capsule could ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.
What is at stake for Boeing?
Since 2014, a dark cloud has hung above Boeing over issues with its commercial airliners. Boeing’s 737 Max 8 airline entered into use in 2017, competing with European rival Airbus’s A320neo. In October 2018, a Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashed 13 minutes after take o¤, killing all 189 people on board. In March 2019, a Max 8 Ethiopian Airlines ¯ight crashed six minutes into its ¯ight, killing the 157 onboard. These incidents were the result of troubles with the Max 8’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
The 737 Max 8 succeeded the 737 Next Generation vehicle with some design changes. Since pilots had already received simulator training to operate the Next Generation, Boeing designed the MCAS to compensate for these changes and installed it on the Max 8, saying pilots wouldn’t need to be trained anew for the latter. But a glitch with MCAS prevented its normal function. And because pilots hadn’t been trained for the Max 8, pilot error allowed the glitch to persist in a way that led to crashes.
The legal disputes, compensatory payments, and order cancellations that followed are expected to have cost Boeing more than $60 billion. A September 2020 U.S. Congressional report also concluded Boeing had cut corners to operationalise its Max 8 aeroplanes, including hiding critical safety information from pilots.
Commercial airlines and spacecraft are di¤erent sectors, but in 2015, Boeing consolidated their development together with some other divisions, creating a company called BDS Development. The stated aims included lowering Starliner’s development costs. The May 7 test is happening against this extended backdrop, and whose success will give both Boeing and NASA con¡dence — but whose failure, should that come to pass, will add to the company’s many woes.
What is the ight test prole?
Starliner’s ¡rst crew ¯ight test will be piloted by two veteran astronauts, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams. After being launched by an Atlas V rocket, Starliner will carry them to the ISS, where the duo will stay for eight days. The capsule will return and descend to the ground, probably at a location in New Mexico.
In March, Mr. Wilmore told Ars Technica Boeing’s aeroplane division and the Starliner programme “don’t cross”. He also asked people to step back from expectations that the test will be ¯awless, that it was being conducted so Boeing could ¡x any ¡nal issues in preparation for commercial operations.