Boeing Corporation reported that in 2024 the Starliner spacecraft brought it $523 million in losses – a record for a program that has already cost more than $2 billion. CNBC reported this.
The company itself explains this by “schedule delays and higher costs for testing and certification, as well as for post-certification missions”. Boeing warns that there is a risk of additional losses on the program in subsequent periods.
Recall that Starliner competes with the program of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which created the manned spacecraft Crew Dragon. It has been making trips to the International Space Station for a long time.
As for Starliner itself, it has only one manned launch on its account – the launch was carried out on June 5, 2024. There were two astronauts on board – Americans Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
Due to a ship breakdown, the astronauts were stuck on the ISS for a long time. As UNIAN reported in December, Wilmore and Williams will be able to return to Earth only in the spring, using the Crew Dragon ship. The Starliner itself returned to Earth without a crew on September 7, 2024.
SpaceX's new successes
Meanwhile, Musk's company is confidently moving forward, focusing its efforts on creating a fundamentally new reusable Starship system.
During a recent test flight, an explosion occurred, so SpaceX was unable to bring the ship to a given trajectory. At the same time, the company was able to return the lower part of the rocket to Earth, which can be considered an absolute success.
In the future, Musk plans to use Starship to colonize Mars. In September, UNIAN reported that SpaceX plans to launch about five unmanned Starship missions to Mars in two years.