Boeing, once a major player in space, has suffered a series of setbacks, failures and legal challenges in recent years that have eroded its dominance in the space industry. The company’s space unit has been lapped up by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and left to watch on the sidelines as other companies move forward with ambitious programs, from sending astronauts to the International Space Station to returning humans to the surface. Moon.
On Friday, Boeing will try to repair its reputation with an uncrewed test of its Starliner astronaut capsule on the ISS. This will be the second launch for the capsule, coming a year and a half after its first attempt failed to reach the space station. Eighteen months of grueling technical investigation and succession of leadership have returned Boeing to the launch pad for a $410 million do-over that will put it on track for its first launch with humans aboard the final segment of this year. SpaceX, Boeing’s rival in NASA’s Commercial Crew program, is ahead, with three astronaut missions under its belt.
