Associated PressNASA's announcement Saturday that it won't use a troubled Boeing capsule to return two stranded astronauts to Earth is a yet another setback for the struggling company, although the financial damage is likely to be less than the reputational harm.Once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, Boeing has seen its reputation battered since two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
The space capsule program represents a tiny fraction of Boeing's revenue, but carrying astronauts is a high-profile job — like Boeing's work building Air Force One presidential jets. Since 2022, however, Boeing's defense and space division has stumbled too, losing $6 billion — slightly more than the airplane side of the company in the same period.
"We have a couple of fixed-price development programs we have to just finish and never do them again," then-CEO David Calhoun said last year."Never do them again." Boeing was finally ready to carry astronauts this year, and Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Starliner in early June for what was intended to be an 8-day stay in space. But thruster failures and helium leaks led NASA to park the vehicle at the space station while engineers debated how to return them to Earth.
And Aboulafia believes Boeing will enjoy a grace period with customers like the government now that it is under new leadership, reducing the risk it will lose big contracts. NASA administrator Nelson said Saturday he was"100%" confident that the Starliner will fly with a crew again.