ISS astronauts opt to ride SpaceX spacecraft
Boeing Starliner returns in early September without passengers
Boeing-NASA in debate over completion of mission
Handing role to competitors… substantial blow to space business,
Photo=AFP Yonhap News,
, ‘[Seoul Economy]’,
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, ‘US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June this year will return to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon instead of Boeing’s Starliner, which has been found to have defects. Boeing, having achieved only ‘half success’ in manned spacecraft operations, has once again faced a difficult situation by ceding its role to a competitor.’,
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, ‘According to Bloomberg, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced at a press conference on the 24th (local time) that “Starliner will return alone in early September without passengers,” and “NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will ride SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which is scheduled to launch at the end of September, and return to Earth next February.” He emphasized, “This decision is the result of a commitment to safety,” and “Spaceflight is dangerous even when it is the safest and routine. Moreover, test flights are inherently neither safe nor routine.” As a result, the astronauts who originally planned to stay at the ISS for about a week will now spend about six months in space, in addition to the previous two months.’,
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, ‘Boeing has reportedly differed with NASA over the feasibility of completing Starliner’s mission. According to The Wall Street Journal, NASA and Boeing have been debating over what risks the gas defects found during Starliner’s journey to the ISS could pose during the return operation. Starliner, which embarked on its first manned test flight this time, experienced several issues such as helium leaks and gimbal thruster malfunctions during the docking process with the ISS. Administrator Nelson said, “There is a need to reset the relationship with Boeing,” and added, “I am 100% confident that manned flights of Starliner will be attempted again in the future.” Boeing did not attend the press conference.’,
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, ‘Boeing, which ambitiously pursued this project, is expected to suffer a significant blow to its space business due to the failure to complete the mission. NASA previously set a policy to maximize cost-effectiveness in the space development industry in 2019 by partnering with the private sector, signing manned spacecraft development contracts with Boeing and SpaceX amounting to $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon completed manned test flights in 2020 and succeeded in over 10 space missions. In contrast, Boeing’s Starliner repeatedly faced technical issues such as software abnormalities since its first unmanned test flight in 2019 and succeeded in an unmanned flight in 2022, three years later. The project suffered delays of 7 years from the initial plan for the first manned test flight, incurring an additional cost of $1.6 billion.’,
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