NASA/Reuters
Sources previously told Ars Technica that there is concern within the agency that if the right combination of thrusters fail when Starliner undocks from the space station, the craft could spin out of control and collide with the ISS.
“If you are undocking from the space station and you lose more than a certain number of your thrusters, there’s a chance that you might be stuck drifting and or even crash into the Space Station,” Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Business Insider.
A NASA spokesperson would not comment on the Ars Technica report when contacted by BI but flagged the agency’s latest mission update.
A damning report
The drama unfolding around Starliner is a narrative new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg could really do without.
The aviation veteran has been drafted in to turn around the company’s fortunes after a series of damaging crises, but is now having to face more questions over Boeing’s engineering prowess.
Even as NASA was deliberating whether to turn to SpaceX, which is competing with Boeing to bring crew to the ISS, the space agency’s inspector general released a damning report into Boeing’s engineering practices.
The report criticized Boeing’s work on the next version of the Space Launch System rocket, which hopes to launch astronauts to the moon. It cited “quality control issues” at Boeing and the “lack of a trained and qualified workforce.”
NASA
Whatever happens with Starliner, the situation is a big win for Musk and SpaceX, which has been running regular missions to the ISS since 2020.
Musk has been firing shots at its rival in recent months, posting on X ahead of Starliner’s first crewed launch that the company had “too many non-technical managers.”
“SpaceX finished 4 years sooner,” he said.