Boeing Reports Additional $125 Million Loss on Troubled Starliner

Boeing mislaid different $125 cardinal connected its Starliner spacecraft, according to a caller SEC filing. That’s connected apical of the implicit $1.1 cardinal successful previously reported losses. 

In a quarterly report dated July 31, the aerospace institution reported fiscal losses for the play betwixt April 1 and June 30, 2024, citing ngo delays successful the Starliner’s archetypal crewed formation trial arsenic the reason.

The Starliner CST-100 remains docked astatine the International Space Station, wherever it’s been since June 6. While the vessel and its 2 astronauts were expected to instrumentality to Earth connected June 14, issues with the thrusters and helium leaks person led to the extended stay. Both Boeing and NASA person said the Starliner could safely instrumentality to Earth at immoderate clip but person opted to tally extended tests to stitchery arsenic overmuch information arsenic possible.  

On July 20, NASA and Boeing engineers completed a blistery occurrence test of Starship’s thrusters and reported encouraging results. No instrumentality day has yet been confirmed, but connected July 31, Boeing said successful a statement that a squad had gone done a simulated undocking process the time before. The Starliner had besides undergone an exterior inspection, portion of modular process earlier a spacecraft departs the ISS. Boeing said it is looking astatine respective imaginable instrumentality dates successful August. 

The crewed formation trial had primitively been scheduled for April 2023 but an contented with a reentry parachute strategy and flammable portion caused it to beryllium pushed back. Those delays accounted for Boeing losing $288 cardinal connected the Starliner programme successful 2023 alone, the institution said successful the report. 

NASA selected the Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for its Commercial Crew Program, aiming to usage commercially operated vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. While Crew Dragon is already operational, Starliner is inactive successful development. To date, SpaceX has completed 8 launches, portion a ninth is scheduled for August 18. 

Boeing’s Starliner went into improvement successful 2014 nether a $4.2 cardinal NASA contract. After a bid of seemingly endless method hiccups and delays, however, Boeing finds itself shouldering the fiscal fallout. NASA isn’t covering the measure for these overruns; Boeing is connected the hook for the escalating costs, arsenic it struggles to bring Starliner up to speed.

Boeing acknowledged successful the filing that the Starliner task volition apt proceed to suffer wealth successful the indefinite future, arsenic the institution has $238 cardinal successful capitalized precontract costs and $148 cardinal successful imaginable termination liabilities to suppliers related to imaginable aboriginal missions. 

“Risk remains that we whitethorn grounds further losses successful aboriginal periods,” the institution wrote.