--- title: "Boeing Preparing to Launch Astronauts as Parts Fall Off Its Planes Mid-Flight" description: "After years of setbacks and bad press, Boeing and NASA are finally getting ready to launch the Starliner spacecraft." date: "2024-03-25" modified: "2024-03-25" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/being-nasa-starliner-launch-issues" categories: - "Boeing" - "Space" tags: - "boeing" - "NASA" - "starliner" - "the digest" --- # Boeing Preparing to Launch Astronauts as Parts Fall Off Its Planes Mid-Flight ![After years of setbacks and bad press, Boeing and NASA are finally getting ready to launch the Starliner spacecraft.]() *\Image: Boeing\* ## Bad News After years of setbacks and bad press, Boeing and NASA are finally getting ready to launch the Starliner spacecraft. As [*Space.com*]() and [other outlets]() report, NASA and Boeing said in a series of press conferences that the launch date for the years-in-the-making program, which is slated to launch astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams, will *probably* take place in May. "The launch date right now is no earlier than May 1," Steve Stitch, the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said during a press conference Friday. "That's driven by the \[International Space Station\] traffic, as you know it's been a busy year on ISS." This latest update comes not only after agency and company officials pushed the crewed launch date [for the umpteenth time]() [earlier in March](), but also after a particularly bad few months for Boeing as its [planes keep falling apart]() and one of its whistleblowing ex-employees [turned up dead]() in the middle of a deposition. Indeed, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun [announced today]() that he's stepping down from his position as the company faces backlash over its planes veritably [falling apart]() or [otherwise malfunctioning]() [in the skies]() — most explicitly evidenced by the door that [blew off a 737 mid-flight]() in January as horrified passengers clung to their seats. ## Line the Stars While the news on the intra-planet side has been terrible for the aerospace company these past few months, it hasn't exactly been great for its burgeoning off-planet endeavors, either. As [*Ars Technica* reported]() last August, the Starliner project has faced at least three independent investigations as its test flight kept slipping due to massive technical issues — including, ironically, a [part popping off]() the craft as it rolled to the launch pad for an earlier test. During the Friday press conference, Boeing vice president and Starliner program manager Mark Nappi, to his credit, addressed those problems directly. "We have primarily been working on getting the vehicle of course ready for flight and solving the two issues that we had back in the summer, which were the parachute system and the tape flammability issue that we had," Nappi said. "We can safely say those issues are behind us." These setbacks, however, far predate last summer's launch debacles, and go all the way back to 2014, when [both Boeing and SpaceX]() were awarded contracts to create launch vehicles to send astronauts to the ISS. Despite its own [Starship shortcomings](), the Elon Musk-owned company has [achieved that feat]() many times over — while Boeing has not only [failed to do so,]() but has [lost more than $1 billion]() in the process. To date, Boeing [still has not]() carried a single astronaut into space — and given how things are going at that company right now, that may be for the best. **More on NASA:** *[Voyager 1 Sputters Back to Life]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()