NASA announced on Saturday that it will not use the troubled Boeing capsule to bring two stranded astronauts back to Earth. This is another setback for the struggling company. This is more of a reputational loss than an economic one for the company. Let us tell you that for months, Sunita Williams has been stuck in space with another of her colleagues.
Boeing, once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, has seen its reputation damaged after two 737 Max planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The safety of its products came under renewed scrutiny after a Max panel ruptured during a flight this January. And now NASA has decided it is safer to keep astronauts in space until February than risk using a Boeing Starliner capsule that has been plagued by problems in its propulsion system.
“All this is is another bad omen for Boeing. It’s going to sting for a little while, but it’s nothing that hasn’t happened to them before,” said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since 2018 as its plane-manufacturing business collapsed after those crashes. For a while, the company’s defense and space side provided partial protection, posting strong profits and steady revenue through 2021.