Boeing takes another $125M hit thanks to Starliner • The Register
Lurking in Boeing’s woeful Q2 financials is an admission that while its Starliner spacecraft might be struggling when it comes to burning fuel, it has no problem whatsoever setting fire to dollar bills.
The Calamity Capsule is currently attached to the International Space Station (ISS) while engineers scrutinize test results and finalize procedures for bringing the spacecraft – and crew – back to Earth.
The word “calamity” might equally apply to the impact of the project on Boeing’s finances. The company’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that it would be increasing its “reach-forward loss on the program” by another $125 million.
The losses incurred by Boeing thanks to Starliner have comfortably breezed past $1 billion, and will likely surpass $1.6 billion before long. “Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods,” Boeing observed.
It is now almost ten years since NASA handed Boeing a contract to develop a vehicle to transport crew to and from the ISS. John Mulholland, then Boeing VP and Program Manager for Commercial Crew and now Boeing’s Program Manager for the ISS, said: “We’re on track to fly in 2017, and this critical milestone moves us another step closer in fully maturing the CST-100 design.”
After a failed first attempt to reach the ISS, Boeing repeated the uncrewed test flight “at no cost to the taxpayer.” Despite the company’s second try at reaching the ISS being successful, the Calamity Capsule was subject to yet more delays before finally getting off the ground in June for a minimum mission duration of eight days.
Almost two months later, and the spacecraft remains docked to the ISS.
NASA and Boeing have yet to set a date for the spacecraft’s return. In an update issued on August 1, NASA noted that the planning for the spacecraft’s return was “expected to continue into next week.” This includes finalizing undocking procedures and “operational mitigations that could be used in flight, if needed.”
In its update, Boeing reported that return to Earth preparations were under way, with teams working through simulations and the ISS crew inspecting the exterior of Starliner using the outpost’s Canadarm.
The next flight of the Starliner is not expected until August 2025, so it seems likely that Boeing’s balance sheet will continue to bleed red in the “contracts we wish we’d never signed” column for a while longer. ®