After the problem was resolved, the last push from the pushers pushed him into contact with the docking port.
After a successful return from orbit and landing, Boeing will still have additional work, including investigating and correcting problems encountered during this flight. It also needs to complete certification of the spacecraft’s parachutes before NASA approves Starliner to transport astronauts. An independent safety council, overseen by NASA, expressed concern last week that Boeing did not have enough people working on the program.
“The panel will monitor the situation in the near future to see what impact, if any, this could have on the existence or mitigation of any security risks,” said David B. West, a member of the Security Council.
After a demonstration mission with a crew that took two of NASA’s three astronauts to the space station, Starliner will begin regular operations, bringing crews of four into orbit. NASA predicts that SpaceX and Boeing will carry out one crew mission per year.
However, in the short term, Boeing will not be able to engage in any business outside of NASA, like SpaceX, launching two private missions into orbit last year. On the one hand, the Boeing vehicle is significantly more expensive. In 2019, a NASA inspector general estimated that NASA paid $ 90 million for each Starliner site, while a space site in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon cost $ 55 million.
In addition, Boeing does not have access to the missiles needed to fly Starliner missions beyond what NASA requires. The spacecraft is currently launched on an Atlas 5 rocket built by the United Launch Alliance. But the Atlas 5 is powered by Russian RD-180 engines. In 2016, Congress decided to demand the phasing out of the RD-180. Boeing has enough Atlas 5 rockets to meet its obligations to NASA – a test flight with a crew and six operational flights – but no more.
Starliner can fly other missiles, including Vulcan, the successor to Atlas 5. But Vulcan, which has not yet made its first flight, is not approved for crew missions.
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