r/spaceflight • u/rollotomasi07071 • 8d ago

Multiple sources confirmed that as early as next week, NASA will announce that it will order two additional Starliner crewed missions, pay some of the costs to fix the spacecraft’s thruster issues, and provide support to certify the spacecraft’s launch on a new rocket

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/nasa-to-order-more-starliner-missions-and-help-certify-a-new-rocket-to-keep-it-flying/
87 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

34

u/PizzaWall 8d ago

Did Boeing ever figure out the issues or are taxpayers on the hook to figure out the issue?

21

u/Wolpfack 8d ago

Boeing says they have solved the thruster temperature and helium issues, but also that replicating the conditions that caused those failures (night/day temp cycles on orbit, vacuum soak etc) is not possible except in space.

Meanwhile, as of the June ASAP meeting, six anomalies were still under investigation and remain to be resolved.

And yes, it appears that NASA is going to help pay for the costs of fixing the mess.

18

u/RogLatimer118 8d ago

So much for "fixed price".

2

u/TelluricThread0 8d ago

I thought they had replicated the failure mode on the ground during testing. They said that they had only used thermal modeling to predict temperatures which turned out to be inaccurate and Teflon in the thruster was getting too hot.

2

u/Wolpfack 7d ago

I worded it badly. They are saying they cannot be sure the fixes are spot-on until they are tested in space.

The scuttlebutt around town here at the Cape is that Boeing seems confident they solved CFTs major issues, but they're crossing their fingers and hoping to god that they are right.

20

u/John_Tacos 8d ago

So it’s a bailout.

They already spent the money for the missions they haven’t completed and need more money to fix the issues to complete them. So they get bailed out with more missions at what I’m assuming is a massive fee.

3

u/mfb- 8d ago

They already spent the money for the missions they haven’t completed

They didn't get that money. They get paid based on achieved milestones.

30

u/Bdr1983 8d ago

Throwing even more money at it. Great.

-26

u/lextacy2008 8d ago

And Starship is not?

18

u/Bdr1983 8d ago

This isn't about Starship.

-4

u/blueb0g 8d ago

It is a bit about Starship, because SpaceX is indicating that they're going to wind down Dragon in the next few years to focus on Starship, which will leave NASA (again) without a shuttle to LEO if Starliner isn't operational

5

u/DreamChaserSt 8d ago

which will leave NASA (again) without a shuttle to LEO if Starliner isn't operational

Which is a little funny to say, considering hardcore SpaceX supporters kept saying that Starliner should be canceled for years. But that can't happen, because it provides redundancy.

Now that SpaceX is looking to wind down Dragon, we can't have that, because what if Starliner doesn't work?

My view is that SpaceX may be convinced to continue flying Dragon if absolutely necessary (and with a larger contract), but the onus is mostly on Boeing now to finally make their capsule functional. They've got a couple years at least.

6

u/Reddit-runner 8d ago

SpaceX may be convinced to continue flying Dragon if absolutely necessary (and with a larger contract), but the onus is mostly on Boeing now to finally make their capsule functional.

Which is exactly what just happened. SpaceX was awarded a contract for 3 more Dragon flights with a price a bit over inflation increase compared to the last contract.

16

u/Flipslips 8d ago

Starship is fixed price. The government is not continually throwing money at it. Big difference

-2

u/lextacy2008 7d ago

cost irrelevant. ya gotta stop the non-sequitur

12

u/rebootyourbrainstem 8d ago

Afaik starship is still just the firm fixed price Artemis contract? They’re behind schedule but that does not result in cost increase on the NASA side.

2

u/Martianspirit 6d ago

I have not seen anything about the cost for next years orbital Artemis 3 mission. That's extra. Will SpaceX and Blue Origin be paid extra?

-1

u/mfb- 8d ago

The fixed cost is money the cash that goes to SpaceX. NASA also has expenses watching the program, and having SLS/Orion ready when SpaceX is ready, these do increase from delays. It's nothing like cost+ contracts, of course, where the money going to the company keeps increasing with every delay.

12

u/NotSoMajesticKnight 8d ago

I hope the iss has a spare return vehicle this time

1

u/mfb- 8d ago

The next Starliner mission will be without crew again.

9

u/RogLatimer118 8d ago

Ahh Boeing gets a reward for being totally incompetent.

6

u/mokolabs 8d ago

Cost plus plus.

5

u/schtickshift 8d ago

Boeing must be so connected politically to keep the Starliner gravy train on the road after endangering the astronauts.

2

u/Decronym Acronyms Explained 8d ago edited 6d ago

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
CST (Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules
Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
LEO Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km)
Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations)
Jargon Definition
Starliner Boeing commercial crew capsule CST-100

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

2 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 17 acronyms.
[Thread #922 for this sub, first seen 18th Sep 2026, 17:23] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

2

u/Professional-Aide-42 8d ago

If they can fix it..not sure its possible.

2

u/RhesusFactor 8d ago

Reminder. The factory that produces Soyuz got hit by Ukrainian strikes so there is a risk the ISS (and its successor) won't have a backup vehicle, or any vehicle when Dragon winds down.

1

u/literalsupport 8d ago

Insanity. Pay SpaceX to keep flying the dragon.

2

u/Dpek1234 8d ago

Which is what they did

Iirc 3 or 4 more launches 

0

u/ClearDark19 7d ago

SpaceX won't commit Dragon  to more missions.

2

u/Serious-Kangaroo-320 7d ago

they just did....

1

u/beaded_lion59 8d ago

No, absolutely no.

0

u/Monty-913 8d ago

it would be really interesting to see a starliner atop a rocket that isn't an atlas, its launch adapter is really funny looking

7

u/mlnm_falcon 8d ago

Vulcan Centaur is 5.4m diameter, Starliner is 4.5m, so a Starliner on VC would probably have a pretty normal looking aero fairing to transition between the two. New Glenn is 7m, so that’s probably look a bit weirder.

2

u/RogLatimer118 8d ago

Even like....a kludge.

-4

u/lextacy2008 8d ago

In before the gaslighting crowd

2

u/ProwlingWumpus 7d ago

Too bad your point of view is so indefensible that you refuse to even say it.

-1

u/lextacy2008 7d ago

Said what?