Starliner: What went wrong?

What goes up doesn't always come down — at least, not right away. Boeing's Starliner mission to the International Space Station won't return to Earth until sometime in August, CNBC said, while engineers try to figure out why the craft's helium thruster system has been so troublesome. Just don't say the two-person crew that launched in June is "stranded in space." Yes, the capsule has spent nearly two months on what was originally intended to last a bit more than a week. But the astronauts will get home, one way or another. "NASA always has contingency options," said one official.

Boeing has had a "long, difficult road" getting the capsule into space, said The New York Times. Back in 2019, it appeared the company could beat Elon Musk's SpaceX to space. But an uncrewed launch that year went awry, upended by software errors that were caused by "multiple failures in Boeing's processes." The second launch, two years later, was also plagued by faulty thrusters. It took two more years after that to get astronauts to space: The delays reportedly cost Boeing $1.5 billion. Some observers say the trial-and-error is part of the game. "It's spaceflight, it's risky, it's dangerous," former astronaut Scott Kelly told The Washington Post. "Stuff can go wrong."

What did the commentators say?

"Starliner is clearly a problem-prone, clunky spacecraft," Mark R. Whittington said at The Hill. The question now is whether it's worth the time and money to overhaul the program, or if NASA should just stick to letting SpaceX ferry astronauts to the space station. It's not even clear if Boeing is capable of fixing the problems. Maybe it's time to look at other options like the Gaganyaan spacecraft from India or the Dream Chaser spaceplane currently in development. One thing that's clear: "Boeing has seen better days as an aerospace company capable of creating flight-ready hardware."

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Starliner's latest problems are a "misadventure the company's space division could ill afford," Thomas Black said at Bloomberg. The company is already suffering from a "tarnished reputation" thanks to a series of problems with its 737 Max airliner. "This is a company that doesn't need any more black marks on its reputation." That's why Boeing should spin off the space division into a standalone, "nimble" company that can focus on NASA's needs. "The space unit is a distraction for Boeing's main mission: making safe and reliable commercial aircraft."

What next?

Boeing might be looking for an exit. Just 10% of its revenues come from the spaceflight business, Marketplace said. And the industry is increasingly crowded with competitors like BlueOrigin and SpaceX that weren't around when Boeing originally got into the business. "It's the most vulnerable to disruptions of all of their businesses," one analyst said of Boeing. Starliner's future might be one of the first agenda items for new CEO Robert "Kelly" Ortberg.

In the meantime, there are still two astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — to bring home. The pair this week tested the capsule's thrusters, ABC News said, and the plan remains to return to Earth in the same craft that took them to space. But they might have to return aboard a SpaceX capsule. For now, though, NASA isn't ready to announce a return date. "We'll come home," said NASA's Steve Stich, "when we're ready."