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NASA freezes Starliner missions

(gizmodo.com)
269 points rntn | 1 comments | 17 Oct 24 19:56 UTC | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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dotnet00 ◴[19 Oct 24 14:37 UTC] No.41888001[source]▶
Would be clearer to say that its return to flight has been delayed to at least around a year from now.

For the fall/winter 2025 rotation they're going to plan with it being a Crew Dragon flight for now, subject to change depending on how Starliner's fixes go.

They also somewhat misleadingly say that NASA will also rely on Soyuz because of Starliner's unavailability, but that's just about the seat swap arrangement which helps to ensure that both the US and Russia can maintain a continuous presence if either side's vehicles have trouble. IIRC the agreement is expiring and NASA's interested in extending it, but Roscosmos hasn't agreed yet. I say misleading because I think they intended to extend that agreement regardless of Starliner's status.

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JumpCrisscross ◴[19 Oct 24 19:06 UTC] No.41889872[source]▶
> Would be clearer to say that its return to flight has been delayed to at least around a year from now

No. The ISS is decommissioned in 2030 and Boeing is losing money on the programme. It makes sense for nobody to continue this charade.

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dchichkov ◴[19 Oct 24 19:50 UTC] No.41890240[source]▶
It is unhealthy to not have competition to SpaceX.
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sixQuarks ◴[20 Oct 24 02:25 UTC] No.41892428[source]▶
SpaceX hasn’t had much competition for years now and they just pulled off catching the largest booster in history like a pair of chopsticks. I don’t think competition is what is motivating them.
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1. bonestamp2 ◴[20 Oct 24 05:57 UTC] No.41893212[source]▶
Exactly. They're motivated by reducing dollars per kg of payload. They have their own agenda for a Mars mission, and they'll build a business taking third party gigs to fund their long term mission to get people to Mars.