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Source: Economic Information Daily

Due to the malfunction of Boeing's "Starliner", two astronauts have been stranded in the International Space Station for two months beyond their scheduled time, which has aroused concerns from all walks of life. NASA will continue to study the return plan with various parties this week. One of the options is to let the astronauts return in February next year on the "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX).

Industry insiders believe that the need for repairs and adjustments during space exploration is not a huge surprise in the industry, but this has increased public concerns and may affect the commercialization of the U.S. space industry as development costs remain high.

Overstay causes concern among all sectors

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently announced that it will postpone the next manned space launch by at least one month, hoping to buy more time for Boeing to resolve the "Starliner" spacecraft failure and determine the return date of the astronauts stranded in space as soon as possible.

On June 6, American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunny Williams arrived at the International Space Station on the Starliner spacecraft. They were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 14, but due to problems such as spacecraft thruster failure and helium leakage, the return time was repeatedly postponed. This was the first manned test flight of the Starliner. By August 14, the two astronauts had been stranded at the International Space Station for two months.

NASA Deputy Administrator Ken Bowersox said that the public and media are paying close attention to this matter and are increasingly concerned about the safety of the space industry. According to the schedule, NASA is expected to develop a return plan this week. Bowersox said: "We have a variety of options, not only to bring the crew back with the 'Starliner', but also with other aircraft." The move will be a blow to Boeing, which is currently under scrutiny by regulators for quality and safety issues in the manufacturing process of commercial aircraft.

If NASA decides to send two astronauts back to Earth through SpaceX, Boeing and the space agency will need to reconfigure certain software parameters so that the Starliner can automatically undock from the space station and return. Although Boeing expressed "very confident" that the Starliner can bring the astronauts home, Bowersox said some NASA staff are "cautious" about this.

According to Reuters, documents show that the delay in the return flight has caused Boeing a loss of $125 million. Since 2016, the company's cumulative losses on the "Starliner" project have reached $1.6 billion.

Multiple quality issues hinder the moon landing project

According to NBC, NASA's Office of Inspector General criticized Boeing for many problems in quality control and other aspects of NASA's moon landing project in its report.

NASA is advancing its Artemis manned lunar mission, but the project is facing many obstacles. Boeing is reportedly responsible for the manufacturing of the SLS Block 1B heavy rocket upper stage, which was originally planned to be used for the Artemis 2 mission. The latest report from NASA's Office of Inspector General pointed out that Boeing's quality control system did not meet NASA's requirements and some known defects were not resolved. Overall, the workers on the project were also inexperienced and had not received adequate training. The report also stated that Boeing's rocket upper stage manufacturing work was significantly overspent.

Regarding Boeing's quality control, NASA's inspector general said that from 2021 to 2023, U.S. government inspectors issued 71 "corrective requests" to address "quality deficiencies." The report also said that many of the defects found were ultimately not resolved. "To date, Boeing's procedures for resolving deficiencies have not worked, and the company has generally been slow to take corrective action when the same quality control issues reappear." The report made several recommendations, including "imposing financial penalties on Boeing for non-compliance with quality control standards."

In January this year, NASA announced that the Artemis 2 manned lunar mission will be postponed from the end of 2024 to no earlier than September 2025, and the manned lunar landing mission Artemis 3 will be postponed from the end of 2025 to September 2026.

Cost surge constrains U.S. aerospace industry

Space experts told the British newspaper The Guardian that problems with experimental space flights are not uncommon or unexpected. However, the extremely high cost is hindering the development of the US space industry, and many projects are facing setbacks. The Guardian reported that thousands of scientists in the US recently jointly wrote a letter to Congress, calling on the government to ask NASA to cancel its decision to suspend a lunar exploration project from a strategic development perspective.

The US space agency recently announced that the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) project, which was originally planned to explore water ice resources in the South Pole region of the Moon, has been canceled due to rising costs and other reasons.

NASA cited cost increases, delayed launch dates, and the risk of future cost growth as the reasons for halting the project. If the project continues, it could threaten other missions under the Lunar Commercial Launch Services Program. According to the US Space website, NASA has spent about $450 million on the project, and canceling the project is expected to save the agency about $84 million in development costs. The website quoted NASA officials as saying that the project has been successful so far, but the budget is limited.

In an open letter to Congress, American scientists believe that this lunar exploration project is related to the competitiveness of the space industry in the next decade. Its resource exploration capability is the key to achieving hydrogen and oxygen supply on the moon and further development and construction of suitable human habitation facilities, and should not be stopped due to budget reasons.

In addition, according to US media reports, NASA recently announced the closure of the On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project. The statement showed that the termination of the project was due to "ongoing technical, cost and time challenges and the evolution of the wider community, which was unwilling to refuel unprepared spacecraft, resulting in NASA's lack of firm partners."

NASA's report shows that due to "poor performance of contractors and ongoing technical challenges", NASA's project schedule has been delayed and costs have increased dramatically. The report found that the project will exceed the $2 billion cost limit and will be delayed until after December 2026. (Reporter Yan Lei)