A NASA inspector general report has revealed major delays, rising costs, and unresolved safety concerns in Boeing’s Starliner program, which could pose risks to astronauts.
Key Findings
The report focuses on the crew test flight with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the International Space Station in June 2024 for an eight-day test mission. Their return was delayed until March 2025 due to helium leaks and thruster failures on the Starliner.
Dr. Ken Kremer, a research chemist, said, “It’s a pretty damning report, but you know Boeing has not lived up to what they should be doing.” Kremer also stated that Boeing still doesn’t know why the helium leaks happened completely and why the thrusters are still overheating and malfunctioning, so they’ve got more testing to do, and it’s two years since this flight.
Key findings from the report show that Starliner is still not certified to fly, the program is six years behind schedule, and costs have climbed to $712 million under Boeing’s commercial crew contract. Additionally, there are unresolved safety oversight issues, including uncertainty about how to classify the problems encountered during Starliner’s crew flight test.
As a result, NASA is becoming more dependent on SpaceX for its crewed missions. The inspector general recommended NASA improve its investigation of major problems, enhance oversight of Boeing’s Starliner certification, and better manage the program overall. NASA has stated it is already working to implement these changes.
Original reporting: WESH Orlando — read the source article.
