After more than a decade of delays and failures, Boeing is finally ready to launch its first crew of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff of the Starliner CST-100 spacecraft is scheduled for May 6—and it’s going to be a true nail-biter.
It’s been a wild and wacky last few weeks in space, not to mention awe-inspiring, as a spectacular total solar eclipse graced the skies across North America. We also said goodbye to a trusty old rocket, while saying hello to what might finally be the first crewed mission of Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner spacecraft.
Virgin Galactic has responded to Boeing’s lawsuit, which accuses the company of retaining its trade secrets. In response, Virgin Galactic has filed a lawsuit of its own, blaming Boeing for repeated failures that ultimately led to the termination of their commercial partnership.
The Starliner spacecraft is finally ready for launch, targeting a liftoff date in May. It’s been a struggle to get to this point for Boeing’s crew vehicle, which suffered from a series of unfortunate delays over the years, the last of which had to do with two major safety hazards discovered on the spacecraft.
An ambitious NASA project designed to test satellite refueling in space, known as OSAM-1, has been discontinued after significant technical, cost, and scheduling difficulties. The cancellation comes in the wake of an October 2023 report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General that cited “poor performance” by Maxar,…
As the International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its service in low Earth orbit, NASA is grappling with the idea of a short-term gap until a commercial alternative takes its place.
When it comes to the inaugural crewed launch of Starliner, it increasingly feels as though Boeing and NASA are chasing the proverbial carrot on a stick. The latest delay pushes the earliest available launch date to April 2024, a month later than planned, in what’s a seemingly never-ending succession of postponements.
Following several delays and over $1 billion in losses, Boeing claims its troubled Starliner program will be ready to launch crews to the International Space Station (ISS) by early 2024 as it works to resolve two safety hazards on its capsule.
It’s a sad story that just keeps getting sadder. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner program, in development for NASA since 2014, has now crossed a grim threshold, with total losses now in excess of $1 billion.
