Why is it that two American astronauts, Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, have been on the International Space Station for 51 days, and the Boeing "Starliner" that took them back has not been repaired yet?
On the 25th local time, NASA held a press conference and stated that NASA and Boeing have not yet determined the return date of the "interstellar passenger plane" docked at the space station.
We haven't had any significant news about the return date today, "said NASA project manager Steve Stich." We're making huge progress, but we're not ready to do that yet
Recently, Boeing has been plagued by troubles: after a decade of development and multiple delays, the first manned flight of the "StarCraft" has finally been completed, but it has encountered an awkward situation of being unable to return; Recently, Boeing accepted a plea agreement from the US Department of Justice, admitting to conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration in two 737 MAX crashes, facing a fine of $243.6 million, and promising to invest at least $455 million in compliance improvements over the next three years.
Yves Doz, a global technology and innovation professor at INSEAD who has been studying Boeing for many years, believes that these are just the latest in a series of unfortunate events, sometimes even fatal, including two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which have weakened public confidence in Boeing.
Boeing's other new aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Long haul Dreamliner, are also facing development delays, regulatory approval delays, and serious initial failures (such as battery fires). Even the famous Boeing 777 has been temporarily grounded due to safety issues, and the latest version of development is four years later than originally planned. Dong Si told First Financial reporters that this once glorious company is struggling in the crisis.
The 'interstellar passenger plane' has encountered issues such as propulsion failure and helium leakage
According to public information, the "StarCraft" is a reusable conical spacecraft, approximately 3 meters high and with a maximum diameter of about 4.6 meters, capable of carrying up to 7 passengers.
After years of development and three delays, it finally took off on June 5th, carrying two NASA astronauts and approximately 345 kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station.
According to the original plan, two astronauts will carry out an 8-day testing mission involving a total of 87 test targets, and then return to Earth on an "interstellar passenger plane". But as of the first financial reporter's press release, the two astronauts have been in space for almost two months.
It is reported that NASA and Boeing have been analyzing a series of helium leaks and issues with the propulsion system of the "StarCraft" spacecraft, which is a miniature engine used for maneuvering in space. Engineers from two companies recently completed ground testing of the propulsion system for the "StarCraft" spacecraft at NASA's White Sands facility in New Mexico, in order to understand the hardware performance of the spacecraft during different stages of space flight.
The test results indicate that polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) seals may be one of the reasons for the problems with the thruster. After more space tests are expected to be conducted this weekend, NASA and Boeing plan to conduct an important review, possibly later next week, to determine if the team is ready to send Wilmore and Williams home on a "starplane". If the review goes smoothly, the mission team will determine the time when the "interstellar passenger plane" will leave the space station.
At the press conference, NASA and Boeing insisted that the main plan is to send back two astronauts on the "StarCraft", but they also stated that they have been researching backup options, one of which could be to use SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft, another commercial partner of NASA.
However, Stitch refused to disclose more possibilities about this emergency plan. We have two different flight systems. Obviously, the backup plan is to use different systems. I don't want to talk about all these details, "he said.
At the same time, NASA has reauthorized the batteries of the "StarCraft", extending its orbital endurance from the original 45 days to 90 days. This means that if needed, the spacecraft can dock with the space station until early September.
Boeing facing fines and 'rectification'
Despite the poor start and continuous collapse of the "Interstellar" aircraft, government procurement contracts in the defense business have become increasingly important as Boeing's business aircraft revenue declines.
Boeing's financial report shows that its defense and space business generated $7 billion in revenue in the first quarter of this year, up 6% from the same period last year. In its 2023 revenue, the total amount of US government contracts accounts for 37%.
Industry insiders believe that this may be the reason why Boeing pleaded guilty so quickly in relation to two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX.
Ben Cukanos, the director of the aviation industry at S&P Global Ratings, believes that the economic cost of the plea agreement is "relatively controllable" and expects Boeing to remain a key supplier of defense and space products after pleading guilty.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the US Department of Justice submitted a plea agreement with Boeing to a federal court on the 24th, in which Boeing admitted to "conspiring to defraud" the US government in the process of seeking airworthiness certification for its 737 MAX model and accepted a fine of $243.6 million.
Previously, Boeing and the US Department of Justice reached a plea agreement in early July regarding the fatal crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019.
This time, Boeing has promised to invest at least $455 million in compliance improvements over the next three years. This plea agreement also requires the appointment of an independent supervisor for a term of three years to report annually to the public on Boeing's progress in rectification.
In Dongsi's view, Boeing's problems began with a misaligned acquisition of McDonnell Douglas.
Although the name of (McDonnell Douglas) company has faded from the historical stage, the management team of McDonnell Douglas has not quietly left, "he explained. As a result, Boeing's idealistic engineering team was ultimately managed by McDonnell Douglas veterans," these people are accountants, financial directors, and other managers who are obsessed with cost saving and accustomed to managing the company with meager budgets. They are also very sensitive to shareholder wealth
Dong Si stated that after acquiring McDonnell Douglas, Boeing hopes to minimize its own costs and investments to the greatest extent possible. To this end, Boeing has introduced new risk sharing partners from Japan, the United States, Italy, South Korea, and other countries where the aviation industry has not yet had close ties with its competitor Airbus. This means that Boeing can minimize its own investment and focus on overall system integration and final assembly, subcontracting the manufacturing of aircraft structures to partners.
However, "for decades, the cyclicality of the civil aircraft market has been strong. Fluctuations in demand have caused peaks and valleys in engineering and production demand. As time goes by, when demand decreases, the cost conscious new Boeing company increasingly adopts layoffs. Many experienced workers and engineers are laid off, but when demand rebounds, Boeing finds that they can no longer be hired." Dong Si said that this has led Boeing to increasingly rely on partners and subcontractors to make up for the shortage of technical personnel, but the practical experience and ability to design and manufacture aircraft have been lost.
He believes that as the dependence on partners increases, Boeing has shifted its focus to system integration and final assembly, thereby losing some of its deep industrial competitiveness. In the increasingly fierce competition of its competitor Airbus, Boeing has turned to composite materials, making this transformation more difficult and imposing a cost saving culture on itself. Poor corporate governance, overcrowded orders, and an unreasonable and lack of information in the composition of the board of directors make it impossible to perceive and evaluate the various dangers faced by Boeing in reality.
Facing the future 'rectification', Dongsi stated that the biggest challenge the company faces is how to overcome quality control issues arising from the complexity and decentralization of its supply system.