Boeing Starliner: How Much Did The Landmark Spacecraft Cost?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced at a press conference on August 24 that the Boeing Starliner would return to Earth uncrewed. The Starliner had launched on June 5, carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Just a day later, as the Starliner was approaching the space station, helium leaks and several other issues were identified. 

What was initially intended to be a week-long stay is now expected to last a total of eight months. The two astronauts are scheduled to return in February 2025, on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, provided everything goes according to plan. "The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing's Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the conference.

This may not be too surprising to those who have followed the progress of the Boeing Starliner closely, as it has been plagued by delays and major issues since day one. In light of these controversies, one can't help but wonder, how much has the Boeing Starliner project cost so far?

NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract for the Starliner's development back in 2014. Boeing initially said the Starliner would be ready by the end of 2017, but after numerous delays and setbacks, the Starliner is returning to Earth uncrewed in what can only be described as yet another public nightmare for Boeing, which already has a disastrous plane safety record.

What's worse, as NASA struck a fixed-price contract with Boeing, each new delay, or issue to be rectified, means further financial losses for the company. This was recently made clear to investors, as Boeing wrote in an SEC filing that "Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods."

Since NASA and Boeing's collaboration on the Starliner began in 2010, before Boeing was awarded the lucrative contract, the total expenses are even higher. When you take development, testing, and crew flights into account, at least $6.7 billion has been committed to this project.

The reputational damage Boeing is suffering from repeatedly failing to deliver on the Starliner is compounded by the fact that SpaceX is jumping in to rescue the two astronauts stranded in space. The New York Post reported that Boeing employees feel "humiliated" by the developments, although some appear to place the blame on NASA. "We believed that Starliner could bring them home safely, but NASA didn't want to chance it," one employee said. "They have their own PR issues and don't need two dead astronauts. But we didn't think that there would be dead astronauts."

"We have had so many embarrassments lately, we're under a microscope. This just made it, like, 100 times worse," another employee remarked. Boeing has been embroiled in a number of high-profile controversies in recent years. At least 20 whistleblowers have so far come forward to express their concerns about the safety of the company's aircraft.