The 38-page document, released Wednesday, paints the manufacturer’s quality control practices as inadequate and its workforce as insufficiently trained, blaming it for cost increases and schedule delays in the development of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B. Yet the space agency has neglected to punish Boeing financially for these flaws, arguing that doing so would run contrary to the terms of its contract.

The heavy-lift rocket, a more powerful configuration of NASA’s existing SLS Block 1, is intended to make its maiden voyage in 2028 on the Artemis IV mission, a crewed lunar landing. It has been under development since 2014. Boeing is under contract to build Block 1B’s Exploration Upper Stage (EUS)—which will increase the SLS’ cargo capacity by about 40 percent—as well as the core stages for Block 1 on Artemis I and the upcoming Artemis II. Other SLS contractors include Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman.

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

Originally, the EUS was allocated a budget of $962 million and intended to fly on Artemis II, which in January was pushed to no earlier than September 2025. But by the OIG’s estimate, EUS costs are expected to balloon to $2 billion through 2025 and reach $2.8 billion by the time Artemis IV lifts off in 2028.

The office projects total SLS Block 1B costs will hit $5.7 billion before then—that’s more than $700 million over the Agency Baseline Commitment (ABC) NASA made last year. The EUS, at nearly triple its original budget, would account for close to half of those costs.

Add to that an expected six-year delay in the delivery of the system, and the OIG predicts Artemis IV’s launch could be postponed.

“NASA’s fiscal year 2024 SLS Program budget projections do not account for the additional funds needed for EUS development in fiscal years 2024 through 2027,” the report says. “Without additional funding, scheduled work will continue to be pushed into subsequent years as has been the case for the EUS over the last decade, leading to further cost increases and schedule delays.”

For example, the OIG says, NASA is evaluating potential risks to the EUS stage controller and avionics that could delay its delivery by another 14 months. NASA officials disagreed with the analysis.

Mismanaged and Inexperienced

The OIG interviewed officials at NASA headquarters, Marshall Space Flight Center, Michoud Assembly Facility, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and Boeing. It also reviewed NASA and its contractors’ budgets, contract obligations, and quality control documents, among other materials.

In short, the office found that Boeing’s quality management system at Michoud does not adhere to NASA or international standards.

For example, Boeing Defense’s Earned Value Management System (EVMS)—which NASA uses to measure contract cost and schedule progress and is required on all projects with a lifecycle cost greater than $250M—has been disapproved by the Department of Defense since 2020. Officials claim this precludes Boeing from reliably predicting an EUS delivery date.

“Boeing’s process for addressing contractual noncompliance has been ineffective, and the company has generally been nonresponsive in taking corrective actions when the same quality control issues reoccur,” the OIG says.

The DCMA has issued several corrective action requests (CARs), handed down when quality control issues are identified, for the EVMS. Between September 2021 and September 2023, the agency issued Boeing a whopping 71 CARs after identifying quality control issues in the manufacturing of core and upper stages at Michoud. According to officials, that’s a massive number for a system that has been in development for so long.

“Boeing officials incorrectly approved hardware processing under unacceptable environmental conditions, accepted and presented damaged seals to NASA for inspection, and used outdated versions of work orders,” the report says. “DCMA also found that Boeing personnel made numerous administrative errors through changes to certified work order data without proper documentation.”

According to Safety and Mission Assurance officials at NASA and DCMA officials at Michoud, Boeing’s quality control issues stem from a workforce that is, by and large, unqualified.

During a visit to Michoud in 2023, for example, inspectors discovered that welding on a component of the SLS Core Stage 3 did not meet NASA standards. Per the report, unsatisfactory welding performed on a set of fuel tanks led directly to a seven-month delay in EUS completion.

“According to NASA officials, the welding issues arose due to Boeing’s inexperienced technicians and inadequate work order planning and supervision,” the OIG says. “The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that Boeing will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards.”

Complicating matters further is the relocation of SLS core stage production for Artemis III from Michoud to Kennedy, which will require Boeing to transition a decade of production processes developed at the former site to the latter.

The OIG said the manufacturer is developing a more robust, hands-on training program that could revamp its workforce but is long overdue.

“Some technicians reported they had to hunt through layers of documentation to identify required instructions and documentation of work history and key decisions related to the hardware,” the report says.

Further, maintaining that workforce may be difficult—the OIG predicts Boeing will spend an average of $26 million per month on EUS personnel through 2027. That was the norm for the company from February to August 2023.

Boeing management has also dropped the ball at higher levels. For instance, in the leadup to Artemis I, Boeing underestimated the complexity of building the SLS core stage, and EUS funding had to be redirected to that project.

“This ultimately led to a nearly one-year delay in EUS work and an additional $4 billion in funding to Boeing to cover the costs for the core stage development work,” according to the OIG.

In addition, NASA officials believe Boeing’s supply chain woes are of its own making, stemming from late negotiations and contract agreements.

Next Steps for NASA

The OIG report paints the picture of a company in disarray from top to bottom.

The office did not pin the blame entirely on Boeing. It criticized NASA, for example, for spending more than $3 billion over ten years without submitting an ABC to Congress and the Office of Budget and Management. The ABC is the only official cost and schedule baseline used to measure project performance against expectations.

The office’s four recommendations, however, center around the manufacturer.

First, the OIG calls on the associate administrator of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), alongside the agency’s assistant administrator for procurement and chief of safety and mission assurance, to collaborate with Boeing on a more robust, NASA-approved quality management system. It also recommends officials penalize the company financially for its previous violations.

The OIG further directs the ESDMD to conduct a cost overrun analysis of Boeing’s EUS contract to minimize the impact to Artemis missions. Finally, it asks the associate administrator to coordinate with the DCMA to ensure Boeing’s compliance with EVMS requirements.

NASA agreed with three of the four recommendations and proposed actions to take. Interestingly, though, it rejected the suggestion of fining Boeing.

“NASA interprets this recommendation to be directing NASA to institute penalties outside the bounds of the contract,” said Catherine Koerner, deputy associate administrator of the ESDMD, in NASA’s response to the report. “There are already authorities in the contract, such as award fee provisions, which enable financial ramifications for noncompliance with quality control standards.”

Essentially, the agency believes it can keep Boeing in check by rewarding good behavior rather than penalizing mismanagement. The OIG, predictably, disagrees, characterizing NASA as “unresponsive” to what it considers significant safety concerns.

“In the end, failure to address these issues may not only hinder the Block 1B’s readiness for Artemis IV but also have a cascading impact on the overall sustainability of the Artemis campaign and NASA’s deep space human exploration efforts,” the report says.

Boeing will look to improve some of its quality control issues under the leadership of new CEO Kelly Ortberg, the ex-boss of Rockwell Collins who took over after the ousting of former CEO Dave Calhoun.

Calhoun’s departure this month comes as the company continues to be grilled over the loss of a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January as well as persistent issues with Starliner, its semireusable spacecraft under contract with NASA for astronaut rotation missions to the  International Space Station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams may end up spending eight months on the orbital laboratory, rather than eight days as intended.

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NASA officials on Wednesday held a media briefing, during which stakeholders revealed that confidence in Starliner’s ability to return the astronauts is waning. According to Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, teams are “getting more serious about evaluating our other options.”

The primary alternative, officials said, is to fly SpaceX’s upcoming Crew-9 mission with two astronauts rather than four, leaving room for Wilmore and Williams to hitch a ride when that mission concludes in February. They estimated that NASA will make a decision by mid-August.

“We could take either path,” Bowersox said.

Boeing and SpaceX representatives were not present on the call, the intention of which, NASA said, was to provide the agency’s perspective on the mission.

On its way up to the ISS, Starliner suffered two main issues that are giving crews pause over how to return the astronauts. A set of helium leaks that emerged on the spacecraft have since stabilized, according to NASA. However, the other issue, which involves five faulty reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on Starliner’s expendable service module, is still being evaluated.

Officials on Wednesday said ground testing of an identical thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico revealed that the problem is linked to a tiny Teflon seal on an oxidizer poppet, which controls the flow of propellant into the thruster. Teams theorize that the extreme heat the thrusters experienced during Starliner’s rendezvous with the ISS caused the Teflon to expand, inhibiting flow and causing them to fire at weaker-than-expected levels.

According to Steve Stich, who manages NASA’s Commercial Crew program, a July 27 Starliner hot fire test showed that the affected thrusters—with the exception of one, which has been deactivated—are now firing as expected. This has led engineers to hypothesize that the teflon seals contracted and are no longer blocking propellant from reaching the thrusters. Now, the task is to understand how and why.

Teams are working to better understand how those seals might behave during Starliner’s return trip, but there is not yet consensus on whether they are good to go. According to Bowersox and Stich, there is internal disagreement about returning the astronauts on Starliner versus Dragon, which was amplified with the discovery of the faulty teflon seal.

“We heard enough voices [on the program control board] that the decision is not clear,” said Bowersox.

The officials explained that Boeing, which on Friday asserted it has high confidence in Starliner, is viewing risk based on previous missions and flight performance, while NASA wants to understand the root cause of the issue before it has confidence in returning with crew. Ultimately, NASA administrator Bill Nelson will have the final say.

“Reasonable people could have different views on which path we should take,” said Bowersox, who acknowledged that the chance of an uncrewed return has risen in recent weeks. “I don’t think anyone has taken a view that you could prove is wrong or right.”

NASA will have until mid-August to decide whether the Dragon contingency plan should be put into action.

The ISS has two docking modules that are occupied by Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew-8 capsule, meaning Starliner would need to autonomously undock before Crew-9 launches on September 24. Crew-8 would then depart the space station with the crew of NASA’s Expedition 71, and the Crew-9 Dragon would take its place, leaving one docking port open for the next SpaceX cargo mission. Wilmore and Williams would stay for the duration of Crew-9, flying home with the two-person Expedition 72 crew in February.

The problem, though, is that Starliner’s flight software is not currently capable of an autonomous undocking despite having achieved the feat during an uncrewed mission in 2022.

For the CFT, the software was configured for a crewed undocking, as per the mission profile. Now, Boeing and NASA must modify the mission data load to reconfigure the system for an uncrewed undocking, which sources say could take up to one month. NASA said the spacecraft has built-in fault tolerance that would prevent it from colliding with the ISS should its thrusters not perform as expected during that maneuver.

The agency said it has been in daily communication with Wilmore and Williams and that the astronauts are prepared for whatever path it ultimately takes. If they stay along with Crew-9, they will assist personnel with scientific research, including spacewalks. Additional materials, such as spacesuits, would be sent up with the Dragon.

“Butch and Suni are ready to support whatever we need to do,” said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s ISS program.

Officials insist that despite the internal conflict around Starliner, the vehicle could still be used to return the astronauts in the case of a contingency on the ISS. In those scenarios, Bowersox said, NASA is willing to tolerate a higher level of risk—one that is jeopardizing teams’ ability to complete the CFT as intended.

The worst-case scenario, according to NASA, would be if the helium leak and thruster issues converge during Starliner’s deorbit burn, the maneuver that will place it back in Earth’s atmosphere. An unlikely combination of technical failures could impact the ability of the RCS thrusters to maintain the capsule’s orbital trajectory, though agency research predicts that it could complete the maneuver even with multiple failures.

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The post NASA: Starliner Astronauts May Not Return Until February appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

NASA and Boeing are in the midst of the inaugural crew flight test (CFT) of Starliner, a semireusable vessel to the ISS under contract for agency service missions as soon as next year. But en route to the orbital laboratory, the spacecraft suffered several anomalies that have led teams to keep it on the ISS for further testing.

A preflight readiness review, during which crews would make a determination on Starliner’s return date, was expected last month but has since been pushed back, with no updates provided since last week.

NASA and Boeing last held a meeting to discuss Starliner’s issues with the media on July 25 and have insisted that the Boeing capsule will return the astronauts to Earth. However, as first reported by Ars Technica and confirmed by FLYING, it appears the space agency is considering enlisting SpaceX’s Dragon.

“NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible,” a NASA spokesperson told FLYING. “No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning.”

The statement is a marked shift from the agency’s tone thus far, which has been adamant about Starliner safely returning Wilmore and Williams.

While SpaceX’s Dragon is not mentioned by name, it is the only vehicle in NASA’s ISS Commercial Crew rotation program. Steve Stich, who manages the Commercial Crew program, previously said that there were no discussions between the agency and SpaceX about using Dragon as an alternative. However, NASA in July issued a task award for SpaceX to study flying Dragon with six passengers, rather than the typical four.

In theory, the spacecraft could accommodate the four-person crew of SpaceX’s upcoming Crew-9 mission in addition to Wilmore and Williams. NASA is reportedly also considering flying Crew-9 with two crewmembers, leaving room for the two astronauts on the ISS.

The problem, though, is that Crew-9 on Tuesday was delayed from August 18 to September 24 to give Starliner teams more time to finalize a return plan.

Multiple independent sources also told Ars Technica that Starliner’s onboard flight software is not currently capable of completing an automated undocking from the ISS—despite the capsule completing that maneuver during an uncrewed flight test in 2022—and could take nearly a month to be updated.

If the report is accurate, the software issue would compound Starliner’s existing problems, the most consequential being a set of misfiring thrusters.

Five reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module fired at lower levels than expected during the trip to the orbital laboratory. The thrusters have been tested on orbit and are now operating at or near expected levels, according to NASA.

But the agency continues to wrap up ground testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, where an identical thruster is being evaluated. It appears crews do not yet have full confidence in the thrusters’ performance, as evidenced by the delay to the flight readiness review.

NASA continues to tout safety as its highest priority for the CFT, but there are certainly some politics at play.

On July 25, Stich said NASA would like to see Starliner return Wilmore and Williams during the CFT, implying that another crewed test could be required for certification if it doesn’t. The CFT is intended to be the final test flight, but Stich previously acknowledged that certification could take longer than originally expected.

Boeing last week released a statement appearing to publicly pressure NASA, reiterating its confidence in the vessel as evidenced by the extensive testing that has been performed since it docked at the ISS.

Already, Starliner’s inaugural service mission has been delayed from February to August 2025, adding to the almost decade of setbacks the program has suffered. Adding to the headache, Boeing has reportedly spent $1.6B on Starliner so far.

The manufacturer has plenty of incentive to push for Wilmore and Williams’ return on the spacecraft. But at the same time, a failed mission would likely torpedo the program, leaving stakeholders with a difficult decision.

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The mission, Cygnus NG-21, is the space agency’s 21st commercial ISS resupply mission using the uncrewed Cygnus capsule built by contractor Northrop Grumman, which took over the spacecraft’s development after acquiring manufacturer Orbital ATK in 2018.

Cygnus spacecraft have completed nine missions under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services Phase 2 (CRS-2) contract with NASA and are scheduled for missions through 2026 after the agreement was extended in 2022. The total value of the CRS-2 contracts, which were also awarded to SpaceX and Sierra Space, is capped at $14 billion.

Cygnus’ 21st flight is targeted to launch at 11:28 a.m. EDT on Saturday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft is called the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee in honor of the astronaut who died while commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Cygnus will arrive at the orbital laboratory on Monday, where NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will use the ISS’ robotic arm to capture it with NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps serving as backup.

Carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, the uncrewed spacecraft will launch atop SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket for the second time after Northrop Grumman’s supply of Antares rockets, which rely on parts from Russia and Ukraine, was exhausted.

After docking to the ISS for six months, the expendable capsule in January will depart the space station and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA will host a prelaunch media session on Friday followed by launch coverage on Saturday and arrival coverage on Monday, all of which will be on the agency’s website, app, and YouTube channel.

The Cygnus capsule will carry research materials that will directly support experiments under NASA’s ISS Expeditions 71 and 72.

One test, for example, will use a penny, hex nut, and balloons to demonstrate centripetal force in microgravity. Researchers will also use special machines to produce human tissue and stem cells, test the effects of spaceflight on DNA, and study the movement of gas and liquid through a filter in zero gravity.

In total, the spacecraft will carry nearly 2,800 pounds worth of materials for scientific investigations, as well as 95 pounds worth of spacewalk equipment and two CubeSat satellites to be deployed from the ISS.

Cygnus spacecraft so far have delivered more than 138,000 pounds of equipment, science experiments, and supplies to the space station, according to Northrop Grumman.

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Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner—a semireusable spacecraft under a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA for Commercial Crew rotation missions to the ISS—underwent a hot fire test on Saturday intended to evaluate the capsule’s reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. The vessel is in the midst of its crewed flight test (CFT), which is intended to be its final mission before NASA certifies it for service.

On its way to the orbital laboratory, five of Starliner’s RCS thrusters failed to perform as expected, which, coupled with a series of helium leaks, has led NASA and Boeing to keep the spacecraft at the ISS for further testing both on the ground and in orbit. The issues are traced to the spacecraft’s service module, which, unlike the semireusable crew module, will be jettisoned and lost at the end of the mission.

Starliner had already undergone one on-orbit hot fire test in June. According to Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, all thrusters, except for one which has been shut down, performed at 80 to 100 percent during that test. Stich in July said the space agency continues to hold that assessment.

However, it appears the test was not satisfactory for NASA and Boeing, which last month began hot fire ground testing at White Sands Test Facility Test Facility in New Mexico. The campaign is using an identical thruster to recreate the cadence of Starliner’s thrusters during its docking with the ISS, which engineers believe is the maneuver that caused the issue.

As part of those evaluations, officials suggested there could be a second hot fire test of Starliner on orbit, which came to fruition Saturday. With Wilmore and Williams inside the spacecraft, teams fired 27 of the service module’s 28 RCS thrusters one at a time.

The test showed that all thrusters are back to preflight levels, firing at 97 to 102 percent of peak thrust according to Boeing. In addition, engineers confirmed that helium leak rates remain stable and that the spacecraft has more than enough fuel for its return trip.

Boeing predicted that a flight test readiness review will take place by the end of this week, following which teams will select a return date. Wilmore and Williams will also participate in two undocking simulations during the week in preparation for their homecoming.

The astronauts in July gave their first Earth-to-orbit update since arriving at the ISS, saying they are in good spirits and have been in contact with their families.

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The approval will allow SpaceX to stay on schedule with its Crew-9 mission to rotate astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS), which NASA officials on Friday said is planned for no earlier than August 18.

Falcon 9 was grounded by the FAA following a rare mishap during a July 11 launch of Starlink satellites, its first failure after a streak of more than 300 successful missions.

SpaceX on Thursday shed more light on the incident. The company traced the anomaly to a cracked sense line that created a liquid oxygen leak within the rocket’s second stage engine. This caused ignition fluid to freeze, preventing the engine from performing a burn that would have placed the satellites in a circular orbit.

Despite the issue, SpaceX said, the engine continued operating as intended through both of its planned burns, but all 20 satellites were lost.

The FAA swiftly grounded Falcon 9 as is standard whenever a launch does not go according to plan. SpaceX submitted a mishap report on the night of the anomaly.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, said Friday that “SpaceX went above and beyond” in its assessment of the issue, working with NASA to develop a fault tree, review spacecraft telemetry, analyze video, and search for similar issues on other Falcon models.

The company has opted to remove the faulty sense line, which is redundant and not a part of the spacecraft’s safety system, for near-term Falcon 9 launches. It also agreed upon several corrective actions with the FAA that will be detailed in the coming days.

The FAA must still give a final sign-off for Crew-9 to launch, but the blessing to return to flight should allow SpaceX to meet its mission timeline. Stich on Friday said Crew-9 will launch no earlier than August 18 from Launch Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the launch window extending into September.

The mission represents the fourth flight of this particular Falcon. It will launch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon on its 45th mission to the ISS. Once onboard, four crewmembers will spend six months conducting a range of experiments, including studying the physics of neutron stars and the behavior of wildfires on Earth.

The ISS’ two docking ports are occupied by SpaceX’s Crew-8 Dragon capsule and Boeing’s Starliner, the latter of which will need to make way for Crew-9. Complicating matters, however, is the unexpected extension of Starliner’s inaugural crew flight test (CFT), which has left astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the orbital laboratory for nearly two months.

Sources told Ars Technica’s Eric Berger that NASA is considering sending Crew-9 to the ISS with only two astronauts, theoretically making room for Wilmore and Williams to hitch a ride home on SpaceX’s Dragon rather than Starliner.

The scenario is one NASA hopes to avoid. Officials stopped short of calling it a requirement for certification but said that returning the astronauts home on Starliner rather than Dragon is “important” to the program’s goals. According to Stich, teams have finished an approximately monthlong test of Starliner’s thrusters and are working toward a flight readiness review, expected toward the end of next week.

However, Stich also said that NASA has officially handed over the Starliner’s first mission—which was double booked for early next year—to SpaceX. The flight, Starliner-1, will be pushed to no earlier than August 2025, while Falcon 9 and Dragon handle the agency’s tenth commercial crew rotation in February. Starliner-1 will again be double booked with SpaceX Crew-11.

Though SpaceX’s Falcon woes haven’t derailed Crew-9, they may shake up NASA’s busy ISS manifest. The agency is working toward an August 3 launch of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus, followed by an August 13 Roscosmos launch. Crew-9 would be next, followed by SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, originally scheduled for this month.

Beyond that, NASA wants to make a Soyuz ISS crew exchange in September, launch the Europa Clipper probe in October, and facilitate the Axiom-4 private astronaut mission in November.

Given the rapid turnaround following Falcon 9’s rare mishap, Boeing’s Starliner may be a larger culprit than SpaceX in any future delays.

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NASA in June awarded SpaceX a contract, worth up to $843 million, to design and build the U.S. deorbit vehicle (DV) that will drag the massive laboratory to its final resting place in a remote section of the ocean. No existing spacecraft has the capabilities required to complete the mission.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Dana Weigel, manager of the space agency’s ISS program, and Sarah Walker, director of mission management for SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, provided more details on the tall task at hand for SpaceX and predicted what the space station’s final days might look like.

According to Weigel, the U.S. DV contract is different from previous SpaceX contract awards. These have typically been end-to-end, where SpaceX oversees everything from launch through operation. This time, the manufacturer will simply deliver the vehicle for NASA’s use. The contract also has a dwell in storage requirement, which calls for SpaceX to deliver the DV early enough for NASA to perform checkouts prior to launch.

NASA will also need to secure a launch provider for the spacecraft. Walker on Wednesday appeared to throw SpaceX’s hat in that ring as well, saying the company would welcome the opportunity if it arose. NASA uses the firm’s Falcon 9 rocket routinely and has plans to deploy its Falcon Heavy model in the future.

Before Wednesday, little was known about the design of the deorbit vehicle. Officials revealed that it will be a heavily modified version of the company’s Cargo Dragon model, which flies routine ISS resupply missions, but with a specially designed trunk containing propellant, avionics, and more. Walker referred to it as “basically another spacecraft” that will be twice as large as a typical Dragon trunk. The capsule will be pulled from the existing Dragon fleet, and the trunk will be attached.

Walker said the DV will require six times as much useful propellant and three to four times as much power generation and storage. It will also need enough propellant to fly to orbit and operate for several months before completing its mission. By Weigel’s estimate, the vehicle will have a wet mass north of 30,000 kilograms.

NASA was lured by SpaceX’s proposal in part because Dragon is flight-proven hardware—in other words, the agency is familiar with the spacecraft and its systems. Like Dragon, the DV will feature SpaceX Draco engines—46 of them, with 16 on the capsule and 30 in the trunk. About 25 of these will fire at once during the final ISS reentry burn.

In another similarity to Dragon, the vehicle will include both manual and automated functions. Weigel said NASA expects to lose communications during the final four days or so of the mission, during which time the DV will need to manage all onboard tasks.

All of these requirements have driven up the spacecraft’s price, with Bowersox estimating it to be around $750 million. He said that NASA must secure a total of $1.5 billion to cover the DV, launch vehicle, and mission operation, and has asked for $180 million in a supplemental budget request to Congress. If it cannot secure the necessary funding, the money will need to come from NASA’s budget, which Bowersox said could affect ISS operations.

Officials said that projects as complex as the deorbit vehicle concept typically spend five to eight years in development. Per Weigel, the plan is to deorbit the ISS in 2030 for a splashdown in 2031, which would require the DV to launch about one and a half years earlier.

Most of the orbital lab is expected to melt, burn up, or vaporize during its controlled reentry. Weigel said teams have yet to determine where the wreckage will land but that it will be in a remote section of the ocean—potentially the South Pacific—within a narrow area 2,000 kilometers long. She characterized the operation as common for a vehicle as large as the ISS.

The DV will launch and dock to the ISS before the space station uses onboard propulsion to lower its orbit, allowing it to drift closer to Earth. Roscosmos Progress spacecraft may also assist in the maneuver.

Crews will vacate the lab about six months before its retirement. As the ISS approaches an altitude of 250 kilometers, the DV will place it on the proper trajectory and initiate one final burn to bring it home. It will use a massive amount of thrust—enough to drag the massive satellite while resisting drag from atmospheric forces.

Though the DV is being specially designed to deorbit the ISS, Walker did not rule out the possibility that it could find new life with NASA through future applications.

“Anything’s possible,” she said.

As for the ISS, Bowersox said crews will salvage as much as they can, including scientific instruments and mementos such as ship’s logs, despite there being no dedicated recovery mission. The station’s remnants will be divided among the U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia, and the European Union, whose space agencies have continuously occupied it for nearly a quarter of a century. The five agencies share responsibility for safely deorbiting the ISS.

According to Bowersox, all five partners agreed on the U.S. DV concept as the right spacecraft for the mission. However, the mission has not yet received formal approval and could be modified based on feedback.

The hope, Bowersox and Weigel said, is that the ISS deorbit timeline aligns with the launch of a new generation of commercial space stations. NASA has awarded contracts to four firms—Blue Origin, Axiom Space, Northrop Grumman, and Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus—to develop ISS replacements that will be open to federal agencies and private companies alike. The officials said they envision NASA eventually becoming one of many customers in a commercial space ecosystem.

Bowersox predicted that a further extension of the space station’s lifespan is unlikely. In the event that it is retired before commercial alternatives come online, he said NASA will take “whatever steps we could to minimize the impact of that gap.”

In the meantime, the space agency is focused on getting as much as they can out of the space station’s remaining lifecycle, including research that will inform Artemis missions to the moon and beyond. If the deorbit mission goes smoothly, NASA activities shouldn’t miss a beat.

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Dawn Aerospace, manufacturer of the Mk-II Aurora, announced that New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted it approval to fly at “unlimited” speeds at up to 80,000 feet in altitude. The company is permitted to fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a remote pilot and will not be limited to restricted airspace.

Dawn describes the Aurora as “an aircraft with the performance of a rocket.” According to the company, the aircraft is designed to be the first vehicle capable of flying to the Kármán line—which at about 100 kilometers in altitude is considered the edge of space—twice in one day.

“This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight,” said Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn. “To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded [uncrewed aerial vehicle] to break the sound barrier.”

The only successful supersonic airliner, Concorde, which was developed by two now-defunct manufacturers, was retired more than two decades ago. But a new crop of companies, including Dawn and Boom Supersonic, are trying to break the sound barrier again.

Unlike Boom’s Overture, which is being developed as a passenger airline, Dawn’s Aurora is intended for space transportation.

The Mk-II first flew in 2021 and has since completed more than 50 test flights, operating under both jet and rocket power. It last flew in 2023, reaching 200 knots at an altitude of 9,000 feet. But those flights were under a more restrictive license than the one obtained by the company last week.

The goal of the firm’s upcoming campaign, which will comprise about a dozen flights between July and September, is to reach Mach 1.1—the boundary of supersonic speed—at an altitude of 70,000 feet. It hopes to fly to space twice in one day and spend about 180 seconds in microgravity.

If it achieves all objectives, the company believes it would set records for speed, altitude, and climb rate for a self-powered aircraft.

Dawn’s primary business is manufacturing propulsion systems for satellites, and it has 76 thrusters in space. But the company is now looking to enter the suborbital space.

The Aurora is a first-stage demonstrator for the company’s more robust Mk-III—a two-stage-to-orbit model that will take off from the runway and deploy a 250 kilogram satellite at the apex of its flight path.

According to Dawn, it is remotely piloted, low cost, and “rapidly reusable,” designed to fly multiple times per day and between 100 and 1,000 times over its lifespan.

Its engine uses storable, “aircraft friendly” propellants that allow the vehicle to take off without having to wait to be fueled. The engine is also carbon neutral, producing no hydrocarbons during operation.

“Room temperature storable propellants will not boil off, and carbon fiber will not suffer from microcracking, as is common in cryogenic composite tanks,” the company says on its website.

Dawn chose a winged design in order to reduce the risk of an engine malfunction, which could jeopardize the landing—and therefore reusability—of the Mk-II. It will be certified as an aircraft in New Zealand. The model takes off like a conventional aircraft, accelerating to Mach 3 speeds and bending upward into a near-vertical route. On the way down, it descends and glides horizontally back to the runway.

Dawn’s first phase of aircraft testing, conducted with the company’s jet-powered Mk-I, comprised eight hours of flight time across 47 flights. After receiving CAA approval for rocket-powered flight in March 2023, it began flying in just a few weeks.

So far, the Mk-II has made three rocket-powered flights, completed within a three-day span a little over one year ago, as part of the second phase of aircraft development, with the goal of reaching the Kármán line under certification.

According to a blog post from Powell, the current version of the vehicle has a maximum altitude of about 60,000 feet, which will require the company to develop a more powerful variant called the Mk-IIB.

“At full performance, the Mk-II will fly faster and 2.5 times higher than any prior aircraft that takes off from a runway, including the current record holder, the SR-71 Blackbird,” said Powell. “That is the power of bringing rocket performance to an aircraft platform.”

Despite being a demonstrator, Dawn plans to one day use the aircraft for Earth observation, high-speed flight research, in-space science including microgravity research, and even civil and defense applications. According to Powell, the company is already fielding interest in a commercial version of the Mk-II and will be in a “prime position” to roll one out once it reaches the Kármán Line.

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On Saturday, after 378 days of solitude, crewmembers Anca Selariu, Nathan Jones, Kelly Haston, and Ross Brockwell emerged from Mars Dune Alpha: a 1,700-square-foot simulated Mars habitat part of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) program. The yearlong simulation was the first of three planned exercises with human volunteers.

“Hello. It’s actually just so wonderful to be able to say hello to you all,” said Haston, CHAPEA commander, as cameras captured the moment she stepped outside the 3D-printed habitat.

The goal of CHAPEA is to provide NASA data on the effects of long-duration habitation of Mars by putting the crew through the throes of life on the Red Planet: isolation, equipment failures, limited resources, and plenty of work. Selariu, Jones, Haston, and Brockwell entered the simulator on June 25, 2023.

The habitat includes 3D-printed spaces for cooking, medical, recreation, fitness, work, and growing crops, as well as private quarters and bathrooms for each crewmember. Volunteers tested out each of these amenities, grew and ate crops like tomatoes and peppers, and performed simulated “Marswalks,” collecting data on their physical and mental health.

“We cannot live, dream, create, or explore on any significant time frame if we don’t live these principles, but if we do, we can achieve and sustain amazing and inspiring things like exploring other worlds,” Brockwell said Saturday during a press conference.

In conjunction with Artemis missions to the moon, CHAPEA is helping prepare NASA for flights to Mars and beyond without crews having to leave Earth. According to the space agency, 3D printing could become a unique tool in its arsenal when the time comes.

“Future space exploration settlements have the potential to be 3D printed with additive construction technology to eliminate the need to launch large quantities of building materials on multiple flights, which is cost prohibitive,” the agency says on the Mars Dune Alpha webpage.

In February, NASA put out the call for the next group of CHAPEA volunteers, who are scheduled to enter the habitat in spring 2025.

“Mars is our goal,” said Stephen Koerner, deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, during the media briefing Saturday. “As global interests and capabilities in space exploration continue to expand, America is poised to lead.”

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For the public, those were the first words heard from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—the crew of the space agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT)—since they arrived at the orbital laboratory more than one month ago for an intended eight-day stay.

The Earth-to-orbit call between crew and NASA command was live streamed on the agency’s website. The event answered appeals from members of the media, made during a previous press conference, to see the astronauts on camera as concerns with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner—which brought them to the ISS—continue to linger.

The spacecraft is contending with two key problems: helium leaks and deactivated or underperforming thrusters. The issues are concentrated within the spacecraft’s service module, which aids in maneuvers such as docking and undocking with the ISS.

NASA and Boeing have indicated that Starliner has more than enough helium to make it home but are continuing to assess the root cause of the leaks. During a hot fire test after docking, four out of the five affected thrusters performed as expected. The fifth was deactivated for the remainder of the mission.

Williams and Wilmore recounted their trip to the space station and the moment they realized that Starliner’s thrusters were not firing at full power. They also sang the spacecraft’s praises, with Wilmore even saying he was tempted to award his first perfect rating for its handling performance.

Separately, NASA and Boeing representatives held a press conference to provide the latest on ongoing ground thruster testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Officials again did not provide a firm return date for Wilmore and Williams. But Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, estimated that testing could wrap up by the end of the month, after which point teams will iron out a timeline.

Engineers hope to conduct as many evaluations as possible while the semireusable spacecraft, designed to survive 10 missions, is in orbit. Starliner’s service module, the expendable component of the spacecraft, will be jettisoned and lost as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere.

Astronauts Phone Home

Williams and Wilmore on Wednesday made their long-awaited first appearance on camera since arriving at the ISS on June 6, recounting the CFT’s progress so far.

“Launch was spectacular,” Wilmore said, adding that the spacecraft performed “unbelievably well” during operational capability checks.

However, on the second day of their journey to the ISS, the astronauts could tell something was amiss. As Starliner approached the orbital lab, a total of five reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on its service module either turned off or did not fire at intended strength. Williams and Wilmore commandeered the capsule manually for about one hour as teams on the ground assessed the issue.

“From that point on, you could tell that the thrust was degraded,” Wilmore said. “But it was still impressive.”

Even with less-than-optimal performance, the thrusters completed what Wilmore described as a perfect maneuver as they navigated the final 10 meters to dock Starliner with the space station.

According to Williams, the astronauts talk with mission crews once per week to share and analyze the data they’ve collected. She highlighted the capsule’s ability to serve as a “safe haven” in the event of an ISS evacuation—a role it fulfilled last month after a Russian satellite broke up in orbit.

“We are having a great time here on the ISS,” said Williams. “I’m not complaining, Butch isn’t complaining, that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”

One question NASA and Boeing have received is whether Starliner could bring Williams and Wilmore home right now. Officials insist it could, but only in an emergency situation that would require the ISS to be evacuated. The astronauts were asked about their confidence level in that scenario.

“I feel confident that, if we had to—if there was a problem with the International Space Station—we could get in the spacecraft and undock, talk with our team, and figure out the best way to come home,” said Williams.

She later added, “I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home no problem.”

Wilmore said he and his crewmate “trust the tests we are doing are the right ones we need to do to get us the right answers, to give us the data we need to come back,” adding that they are “absolutely ready” for a return based on current engineering data.

NASA could send a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule—which has completed all eight ISS Commercial Crew rotation missions to date—to retrieve the astronauts should Starliner’s issues persist. On Wednesday, Stich said the space agency has not yet opened those discussions with SpaceX, though he did not rule out the possibility.

The astronauts also described their view of Hurricane Beryl from space, saying that their families—who live in Texas and were in the storm’s path—are doing well. Wilmore said he is “90 percent sure” he could see the storm forming off the West coast of Africa days before it was named.

The 20-minute call concluded with some zero-gravity backflips by Williams and a big, smiling thumbs-up from Wilmore.

NASA, Boeing Share More Info

Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew program, addressed the media following the astronauts’ remarks.

According to Stich, Starliner will need to undock before mid-August, when SpaceX’s Crew-8 team swaps with the incoming Crew-9. Williams and Wilmore will need to return a few days before the Crew-9 launch window opens. Starliner remains a “go” for return in an emergency scenario, officials said. But they prefer to wait until ground testing is complete before attempting a by-the-books return,

Stich estimated that hot fire testing at White Sands could “optimistically” wrap up by the end of July, though it could be extended. Teams are working toward a nominal return flight readiness review, standard for crew rotation missions, that would give the green light to finish the mission as planned. 

Should more time be needed, NASA is in the process of approving a 45-day extension of the CFT, which is contingent on the health of Starliner’s batteries. According to Stich, those systems have shown no sign of wear and tear.

The goal of the test campaign is to recreate the firing pattern of one of Starliner’s faulty thrusters using an identical thruster—designed for a future mission—on the ground. Hot fire testing began on July 3, but Stich said crews have so far been unable to achieve the temperatures experienced by the thruster in orbit. Engineers believe the unusual firing pattern could be due to excess heat.

Teams will then attempt to predict how the thrusters might behave as Starliner undocks and flies home. Based on their learnings, they could modify the spacecraft’s flight path, deactivate certain thrusters, or fire them at different rates. Williams and Wilmore are capable of piloting Starliner manually if issues arise.

At the same time, Stich said White Sands personnel are evaluating the service module for Starliner’s inaugural crew rotation mission, Starliner-1, scheduled for February. The current service module has contended with a series of helium leaks, for which crews are attempting to uncover the root cause. Starliner-1’s service module won’t be redesigned, but Nappi said future models could incorporate changes based on the testing at White Sands.

The Outlook

Extended ISS stays are not necessarily uncommon, and the space station is designed to accommodate crew for months at a time if needed.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, for example, set a U.S. spaceflight record when his planned six-month mission was nearly doubled to 371 consecutive days aboard the orbital laboratory. Unlike Starliner, the Russian Soyuz capsule that ferried Rubio to the ISS was quickly ruled out as an emergency return vehicle, lending credence to the idea that Boeing’s issues are less severe.

However, NASA and Boeing face the added pressure of certification after close to a decade of delays to the Starliner program. In a prior press conference, Stich acknowledged that NASA and Boeing “understand it’s going to take a little bit longer” to certify Starliner than originally planned.

On Wednesday, the Commercial Crew manager said teams will decide between Starliner-1 or SpaceX Dragon’s Crew-10—which are booked for the same February launch window—once the CFT ends and postflight analysis is complete. The longer that takes, he said, the more likely it is that SpaceX will take over the mission.

Nappi agreed with that assessment, citing the need to understand and fix Starliner’s helium leaks as the biggest obstacle to certification.

NASA and Boeing said Wilmore and Williams will make one more Earth-to-orbit call before they depart the ISS, with more details to come.

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