NASA announced it will purchase two additional Starliner flights and provide $359 million to Boeing for repairing the spacecraft's reaction control system, ensuring a fallback path to low-Earth orbit as SpaceX prepares to retire Crew Dragon in favor of Starship. The commitment underscores concerns about continuity of US human spaceflight access amid Starliner's long history of technical failures.
Background
Boeing's Starliner has struggled since 2019 with thruster and guidance issues, nearly losing two astronauts in 2024, and has incurred over $2 billion in losses. NASA had already committed $5.1 billion under the Commercial Crew program, and now faces a gap in LEO access if SpaceX retires Dragon ahead of Starship's operational readiness.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 29, 2026 at 06:24 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10