Boeing and NASA have made “significant progress” in resolving problems observed during the company’s CST-100 Starliner test flight last year, although key issues with the spacecraft’s engines remain unresolved, according to an independent NASA safety panel.
Paul Hill, a member of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), said at a public meeting on January 30 that the committee was briefed on the status of the investigation into the recent Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. This mission launched in June with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board. But the spacecraft returned to Earth three months later without a crew due to agency concerns about the performance of the spacecraft’s engines.
“NASA has reported that significant progress has been made on the post-flight activities of Starliner CFT,” he said. “The combined NASA and Boeing teams have begun to resolve flight observations and flight anomalies.”
He did not elaborate on the specific issues the teams were addressing, but said it did not involve engines. Some of which shut down as the spacecraft approached the station. The propulsion system also experienced several helium leaks.
“The program anticipates that the propulsion system anomalies will remain open,” he said, ”until the ongoing test campaigns.
He added that groups are studying the root cause of the engine problems and developing recommendations for changes to future missions. They also evaluate “technical and organizational factors” that may have played a role.
Hill said that ASAP is pleased with Boeing and NASA’s progress and course of action.
“The details provided by NASA have given us confidence that they are focused on the right underlying issues and the associated path to safe Starliner flight.”
However, the ASAP meeting did not provide many technical details regarding the Starliner investigation; it was the most detailed public update since it returned almost five months ago. Neither NASA nor Boeing provided much information about the post-landing investigation.
The ASAP briefing did not discuss when the Starliner might fly again. And whether it will be another test flight with or without a crew on board or a long-term mission with crew rotation.
“The timing and configuration of the next Starliner flight will be determined when a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established,” NASA said in October.
“NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to obtain system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025,” the agency said at the time but has not since provided an update on where the Starliner might approach the station.
On January 23, Boeing announced that it expects another charge against earnings in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to the Starliner, which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. The company did not provide further details during its January 28 earnings release and conference call with analysts. It has not yet filed its 10-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which would contain this information.
Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president, and the Starliner program manager during the CFT mission, no longer holds this position. On January 30, Nappi spoke at a panel at the SpaceCom conference in his role as senior program advisor for space exploration initiatives at Boeing. Noting that the change was part of his long-standing plans to leave the company in February.
The panel on public-private partnerships only briefly touched on the Starliner. He asked what he would change about the structure of the commercial crew program to improve spacecraft cost and schedule performance, and he pointed to requirements.
“I think we would go back and review those requirements and make them more efficient.”