NASA Backs 2 More Starliner Flights With $359 Million as Dragon Retirement Looms
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Sep 28
NASA Backs 2 More Starliner Flights With $359 Million as Dragon Retirement Looms
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Sep 28
Summary
$359 million in new NASA funding will pay Boeing to rebuild Starliner’s overheating thrusters and certify ULA’s Vulcan rocket for crewed missions.
NASA also exercised options for two additional Starliner flights, raising its planned total to six as it seeks to preserve low-Earth-orbit access beyond SpaceX Crew Dragon.
That support comes despite Starliner’s long troubles: a June 2024 crew test flight suffered thruster problems that nearly cost two astronauts, and Boeing has taken more than $2 billion in losses on the program.
Next milestones remain years away, with an uncrewed Starliner-1 targeted for December 2026 or January 2027 and the first contracted crewed mission, Starliner-2, now expected in mid-2028 under Woody Hoburg.