Boeing employees were “humiliated” by NASA’s announcement that Elon Musk’s rival startup SpaceX would have to rescue two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station by the troubled Starliner space capsule, one employee told The Washington Post.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who headed to the ISS for an eight-day mission in June, will have to wait another six months for a safe return aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft because their original spacecraft is suffering from a helium leak and propulsion problems.
A Florida-based staffer who works on Boeing’s space program said the decision was the latest blow for the aerospace giant already struggling with backlash from a series of commercial flight accidents earlier this year.
“We’ve had so many embarrassing incidents recently and are under intense scrutiny. This has just made it 100 times worse,” said one employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We hate SpaceX,” he added. “We always badmouth them, and now they’re trying to bail us out.”
“It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing and it’s horrifying,” the employee said.
Morale was “terrible,” the worker claimed, and many within Boeing blamed NASA for the humiliation.
Boeing claims its Starliner spacecraft returned safely to Earth after carrying astronauts to the ISS on its first crewed flight on June 5.
But after more than two months of testing the spacecraft, which is still docked to the ISS, NASA decided to turn to SpaceX for help.
The Boeing spacecraft suffered a helium leak shortly before launch, and the leak worsened when it docked with the ISS.
The spacecraft also experienced several thruster failures, and while many of those issues have since been mitigated, NASA said the safest decision was for Wilmore and Williams to return in February 2025 as part of SpaceX’s Dragon Crew 9 mission.
“They believed Starliner could bring them home safely, but NASA didn’t want to take the risk,” the employee said.
“They have a public relations problem and they don’t want two astronauts to die,” he added, “but we didn’t expect them to die. If they thought it was a risk to them, they wouldn’t have recommended we take them on.”
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said talks with Boeing “came down to a minor difference of opinion about risk.”
Boeing did not comment on NASA’s decision to turn to SpaceX, instead telling The Washington Post that the company is focused on ensuring Starliner returns to Earth intact.
“Boeing remains focused on the safety of our crew and spacecraft above all else,” the company said.
Boeing has incurred roughly $1.5 billion in cost overruns beyond its original $4.5 billion contract with NASA, which wants Starliner to become a second vehicle to the ISS alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Starliner’s problems threaten its future and could further damage Boeing’s already troubled reputation in the aerospace industry.
The airline has been plagued by safety concerns since earlier this year when a door panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet was blown off and four key bolts were thought to be missing.
Boeing has a history of serious aircraft failures, and at least 20 whistleblowers have raised concerns about safety and quality issues at the aerospace giant. Some of them have died.
