Following numerous delays and a myriad of setbacks throughout test flights, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is at last poised to embark on its maiden crewed voyage.
Scheduled to lift off from Florida as early as May 6, the mission will transport NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station, potentially marking a momentous and eagerly anticipated triumph for the troubled Starliner program.
“Crafting and refining is challenging—particularly with a manned spacecraft,” remarked Mark Nappi, Boeing's vice president and Starliner program lead, during a press briefing on Thursday. “There have been several unforeseen hurdles along the journey that we’ve had to surmount... Yet, it has undoubtedly fortified the team. I’m immensely proud of their resilience in overcoming every obstacle we’ve encountered to bring us to this juncture.”
On Thursday, Boeing and NASA officials jointly announced the decision to proceed with the launch endeavor within the next fortnight. Nonetheless, Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate, cautioned that May 6 holds no special significance.
“We will launch when we are fully prepared,” he affirmed.
A successful mission would see the Starliner joining SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft in ferrying astronauts to and from the space station, ensuring the continual presence of NASA and its partner agency astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory.
This prospect—of both Crew Dragon and Starliner operating routinely—has long been awaited by the US space agency.
“This is a pivotal moment in history,” declared NASA Administrator Bill Nelson regarding the impending Starliner mission during a March 22 press briefing. “We are now entrenched in a golden age of space exploration.”
Both SpaceX and Boeing developed their spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a collaborative venture with private industry entities. The objective from the outset was to have both companies operational concurrently, with each spacecraft serving as a contingency for the other, enabling astronauts to continue missions even if one spacecraft faced technical glitches or other impediments.
Initially, NASA had favored Boeing—a longstanding partner with ties dating back to the mid-20th century—over SpaceX, viewed by the federal agency as a relatively youthful and unpredictable newcomer.
However, NASA did not anticipate that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon would operate independently for nearly four years prior to the launch of Boeing’s Starliner.
Boeing, SpaceX and NASA’s vision
As recently as 2016, NASA was strategizing its timeline with the expectation that the Starliner would beat the Crew Dragon to the launchpad.
However, the competition between Boeing and SpaceX underwent a notable shift by 2020. A Starliner test flight in the preceding year was marred by blunders, leaving NASA and Boeing officials scrambling to decipher the root causes. The spacecraft failed to dock with the space station due to software glitches, including an anomaly with the internal clock, which was out of sync by 11 hours.
In contrast, SpaceX achieved a historic milestone in May 2020 with the launch of its Demo-2 test flight, carrying astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on a two-month journey to the International Space Station.
Since then, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has been conducting regular missions, ferrying NASA astronauts and even private customers and tourists. The spacecraft has now completed 13 manned missions to orbit.
Conversely, Boeing has encountered a series of hurdles over several years, including a litany of issues uncovered during the spacecraft’s second unmanned test flight in 2022. Additionally, Boeing’s commercial aircraft division has faced a barrage of controversies, including the 737 Max crisis and recent quality control concerns highlighted after a door plug dislodged during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, tarnishing the company’s reputation.
At one juncture in 2020, NASA officials conceded that they had directed more attention towards SpaceX and its unconventional methods, while the issues with Boeing’s Starliner went overlooked.
"Perhaps we didn’t have sufficient personnel immersed in that process as we should have," remarked Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, during a July 2020 press briefing.
"When one provider (SpaceX) adopts a more innovative approach than the other, it’s natural for individuals to dedicate more time to that innovative approach, and perhaps we didn’t allocate the necessary time to (Boeing’s) more traditional approach."
Starliner’s setbacks
Boeing’s aerospace division operates autonomously from its commercial airline branch, and both NASA and the American aerospace titan have consistently emphasized this distinction.
NASA officials have underscored their intensified collaboration with Boeing, with personnel stationed at Boeing facilities overseeing the implementation of various rectifications ahead of the imminent Starliner launch.
“This capability is crucial for NASA. We committed to this endeavor, and we will achieve success,” stated Nappi on Thursday. “I don’t view it in terms of Boeing's interests as much as I do in terms of the program's objectives.”
Nevertheless, Boeing and NASA have grappled with an extensive array of challenges.
For instance, during the 2022 flight test, engineers discovered that the suspension lines on the Starliner’s parachute had a lower failure threshold than initially anticipated.
While NASA and Boeing engineers trialed a solution earlier this year, parachutes remain a priority as they finalize pre-launch checks, Stich remarked on Thursday.
Additionally, it was found that some tape used to safeguard wiring harnesses was flammable, prompting Boeing to replace approximately one mile of the material, according to Nappi.
Boeing might also need to revamp certain spacecraft valves due to corrosion concerns. However, this upgrade isn't anticipated until the second crewed flight, slated for 2025 at the earliest.
For the inaugural crewed flight in May, Boeing plans to implement a “suitable mitigation” to prevent valve sticking, as stated by Nappi in March.
Starliner and safety
Despite the arduous journey to the launchpad, the focal figures of the Starliner’s inaugural crewed mission—Williams and Wilmore, seasoned NASA astronauts—asserted upon their arrival at the launch site that their confidence remains unwavering.
“We aim for the public to perceive it as effortless, but truth be told—it’s immensely challenging,” remarked Wilmore upon reaching Starliner’s launch site in Florida on Thursday. “We wouldn’t be embarking on this journey if we weren’t thoroughly prepared. We are prepared. The spacecraft is prepared, and the teams are prepared.”
Wilmore expressed at a March press briefing that he harbors no anticipation of the Starliner spacecraft encountering any “failure modes.”
“However, given that we are all human and perfection eludes us, if a scenario were to arise, we have multiple fallback options,” he articulated during the briefing, alluding to modes that afford astronauts greater manual control over the spacecraft if deviations from the plan occur.
Similarly, Williams remarked during a March media event, “We wouldn’t be here if we—and if we hadn’t assured our families—were not confident in this spacecraft and our ability to manage it.”
She reiterated during the Thursday press briefing in Florida, “I have absolute faith not only in our proficiency and the spacecraft’s capability, but also in our mission control team, who stand poised for any challenge.”
