Boeing is taking another $250 million charge against earnings to pay for cost overruns on the Starliner commercial crew program. The company is operating under a $4.2 billion fixed price contract with NASA through a Public-Private Partnership where Boeing retains ownership of the spacecraft and NASA purchases services once it is certified as safe for transporting NASA astronauts. That step remains elusive after three test flights and Boeing must cover the extra costs. The company now has spent $1.85 billion of its own money on the program.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from October 14-20, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 20-26, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until after the November elections except for pro forma sessions.

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A lack of schedule margin in NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program is adding to the likelihood that Artemis II will be delayed according to the Government Accountability Office. Scheduled for launch in September 2025, Artemis II will send astronauts around the Moon for the first time since Apollo.  In a report released today, GAO acknowledges that the EGS program is making progress, but nonetheless expects delays not only for Artemis II, but the next two Artemis missions in 2026 and 2028.

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In a post on NASA’s Science Mission Directorate website yesterday, NASA disclosed establishment of a Mars Sample Return Strategy Review Team to assess 11 studies of alternatives for returning samples of Mars to Earth. The independent team, led by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, will not recommend acquisition strategies or partners, but examine options. The agency also set up a “NASA analysis team” composed mostly of NASA employees to provide programmatic input.

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SpaceX has set a new record for Falcon 9 launches in a single year, with the 97th successful liftoff overnight. That breaks their record of 96 in 2023 with many weeks still to go in 2024. Add in the three suborbital Starship test flights and they’ve already reached 100 successful launches this year despite one launch failure. They also experienced a landing failure plus a second stage anomaly so the year has not been trouble free, but it is an impressive achievement.

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The Europa Clipper spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. After an on-time liftoff, it separated from the rocket, began transmitting back to Earth, and unfolded its huge solar arrays.  It has a long trip ahead, 1.8 billion miles, that will take it to Mars and back to Earth for gravity assists, finally reaching its destination in April 2030.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from September 30-October 13, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

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NASA, SpaceX, and the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron gave the green light this afternoon for Europa Clipper to launch tomorrow at 12:06 pm ET.  The weather is 95 percent favorable. The launch was delayed from October 10 primarily because of Hurricane Milton. If anything should go awry tomorrow, it can launch any day between now and November 6 and still get to its destination, Jupiter’s moon Europa, in 2030.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 13-19, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until after the November elections, except for pro forma sessions.

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