Boeing’s Starliner docks at NASA’s space station

Once the troubleshooting was complete, one last push by the thrusters brought it into contact with the docking port.

After a successful return from orbit and landing, Boeing still has additional work to do including investigating and fixing the glitches it encountered during this flight, and also needs to complete the spacecraft’s parachute certification, before NASA approves the Starliner to transport astronauts. An independent safety board that oversees NASA expressed concern last week that Boeing did not have enough people working on the program.

David B. said:

After a manned demonstration mission that takes two of the three NASA astronauts to the space station, Starliner will begin its regular operations, taking crews of four into orbit. NASA expects SpaceX and Boeing to each make one crewed flight per year.

In the short term, however, Boeing won’t be able to capitalize on any non-NASA company as SpaceX did, launching two missions of private citizens into orbit last year. For example, a Boeing car is much more expensive. In 2019, NASA’s inspector general estimated that NASA pays $90 million for each Starliner seat while a SpaceX Crew Dragon seat costs $55 million.

In addition, Boeing does not have access to the rockets needed to fly Starliner missions beyond what NASA requires. Currently, the spacecraft is being launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance. But the Atlas 5 is powered by Russian-made RD-180 engines. In 2016, Congress decided to order the phase-out of RD-180s. Boeing has enough Atlas 5 missiles to meet its commitments to NASA — the manned test flight and six operational flights — but no more.

The Starliner can fly on other missiles, including the Vulcan, the successor to the Atlas 5. But the Vulcan, which has not yet made its maiden flight, is not approved for manned missions.