Boeing has booked another loss on its ill fated Starliner spacecraft, which returned empty to Earth last Earth after a considerable delay in space due to problems with its thrusters. Starliner took to the skies in June as part of a two week mission stretched to two months as NASA and the company ran test after test to ensure the ship's safety to return crew. The agency eventually decided to bring Starliner home uncrewed, with the return portion of the flight performing well and the ship landing successfully in the White Sands range in New Mexico in early September.
Boeing Adds Additional $250 Million Forward Losses To Starliner Program
Over the course of the months leading up to Starliner's first and only crewed launch in June, Boeing has had to extend the ship's forward losses several times. The ship was slated to launch its Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission in June 2023, but a design flaw with its parachute lines led to a delay to 2024. This delay led Boeing to book a $288 million forward loss, which meant that the firm decided to apply the loss to its income for future periods to reduce tax liability.
Starliner's next launch attempt was targeted for May 2024, but three subsequent delays stemming from leaks, computer faults and valve problems pushed the launch to June. Despite the fact that the June launch was successful, it wouldn't be the final delay that Boeing's only and NASA's second ship capable of astronaut missions would face.
Starliner's problems during the CFT were evident soon after launch as some of its thrusters lost power during docking. This kicked off a months long investigation cycle, with NASA and Boeing testing the thrusters in space and on Earth as part of their attempts to determine the reason behind the fault and the ship's suitability for a crewed Earth return.
The tests led to the ship undocking from the ISS and returning to Earth in September and made Boeing book additional forward costs of $125 million during its second quarter. Now, the firm has had to book twice these during Q3, as its SEC filing for the period points out an "increased the reach-forward loss on the program by $250 primarily to reflect schedule delays and higher testing and certification costs."
Starliner's return has left the ship's future shrouded in uncertainty. A successful crew return in June without any anomalies would have meant that the ship would have flown six operational missions to the ISS by 2030. The CFT flight was a non operational mission, and NASA shed more light on the program's future in an October blog post.
The agency shared that "timing and configuration of Starliner’s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established." It added that teams are eager to fly an operational flight in 2025 since NASA has always preferred to have two US origin spacecraft available for crewed ISS missions. This builds redundancy into the crew program and ensures stable access to space from US soil in case one spacecraft is grounded.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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