NASA is paying Boeing twice as much as SpaceX for its manned flights
Capitalism in space: in an excellent analysis of the total amount NASA will pay both SpaceX and Boeing for all their manned flights to ISS before the station retires, Eric Berger at Ars Technica has determined that the agency will essentially pay Boeing twice as much per flight.
In 2014, NASA narrowed the crew competition to just two companies, Boeing and SpaceX. At that time, the space agency awarded Boeing $4.2 billion in funding for development of the Starliner spacecraft and six operational crew flights. Later, in an award that NASA’s own inspector general described as “unnecessary,” NASA paid Boeing an additional $287.2 million. This brings Boeing’s total to $4.49 billion, although Finch told Ars that Boeing’s contract value as of August 1, 2022, is $4.39 billion.
For the same services, development of Crew Dragon and six operational missions, NASA paid SpaceX $2.6 billion. After its initial award, NASA has agreed to buy an additional eight flights from SpaceX—Crew-7, -8, -9, -10, -11, -12, -13, and -14—through the year 2030. This brings the total contract awarded to SpaceX to $4.93 billion.
Since we now know how many flights each company will be providing NASA through the lifetime of the International Space Station, and the full cost of those contracts, we can break down the price NASA is paying each company per seat by amortizing the development costs.
Boeing, in flying 24 astronauts, has a per-seat price of $183 million. SpaceX, in flying 56 astronauts during the same time frame, has a seat price of $88 million. Thus, NASA is paying Boeing 2.1 times the price per seat that it is paying SpaceX, inclusive of development costs incurred by NASA.
Despite the larger payments to Boeing, the company could very well lose money on Starliner. The higher cost to NASA from Boeing is due almost entirely because the agency was absorbing more of its initial development cost. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule had already been flying cargo missions to ISS when these manned contracts were awarded. SpaceX merely had to upgrade its manned capsule. Boeing had to design and build it from scratch. Moreover, the contracts were fixed price, which means Boeing had to absorb more than a half billion in additional costs when it had to refly the unmanned demo flight of Starliner.
Finally, because of the delays, Boeing won less NASA business. It also has gotten none of the private commercial manned flights that are going on right now. Those contracts went to SpaceX, including all the profits. Whether Boeing can eventually win some private contracts down the road is unknown. It will certainly have to lower its price to compete with SpaceX.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: in an excellent analysis of the total amount NASA will pay both SpaceX and Boeing for all their manned flights to ISS before the station retires, Eric Berger at Ars Technica has determined that the agency will essentially pay Boeing twice as much per flight.
In 2014, NASA narrowed the crew competition to just two companies, Boeing and SpaceX. At that time, the space agency awarded Boeing $4.2 billion in funding for development of the Starliner spacecraft and six operational crew flights. Later, in an award that NASA’s own inspector general described as “unnecessary,” NASA paid Boeing an additional $287.2 million. This brings Boeing’s total to $4.49 billion, although Finch told Ars that Boeing’s contract value as of August 1, 2022, is $4.39 billion.
For the same services, development of Crew Dragon and six operational missions, NASA paid SpaceX $2.6 billion. After its initial award, NASA has agreed to buy an additional eight flights from SpaceX—Crew-7, -8, -9, -10, -11, -12, -13, and -14—through the year 2030. This brings the total contract awarded to SpaceX to $4.93 billion.
Since we now know how many flights each company will be providing NASA through the lifetime of the International Space Station, and the full cost of those contracts, we can break down the price NASA is paying each company per seat by amortizing the development costs.
Boeing, in flying 24 astronauts, has a per-seat price of $183 million. SpaceX, in flying 56 astronauts during the same time frame, has a seat price of $88 million. Thus, NASA is paying Boeing 2.1 times the price per seat that it is paying SpaceX, inclusive of development costs incurred by NASA.
Despite the larger payments to Boeing, the company could very well lose money on Starliner. The higher cost to NASA from Boeing is due almost entirely because the agency was absorbing more of its initial development cost. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule had already been flying cargo missions to ISS when these manned contracts were awarded. SpaceX merely had to upgrade its manned capsule. Boeing had to design and build it from scratch. Moreover, the contracts were fixed price, which means Boeing had to absorb more than a half billion in additional costs when it had to refly the unmanned demo flight of Starliner.
Finally, because of the delays, Boeing won less NASA business. It also has gotten none of the private commercial manned flights that are going on right now. Those contracts went to SpaceX, including all the profits. Whether Boeing can eventually win some private contracts down the road is unknown. It will certainly have to lower its price to compete with SpaceX.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I’ll say it now with extreme confidence: Boeing will never sell a commercial Starliner flight. Not only because nobody would be dumb enough to purchase a ride from Boeing when it could buy a much cheaper and more accommodating ride from SpaceX, but also because Boeing doesn’t care about commercial sales of Starliner—no matter what the marketing department says. Boeing’s entire purpose was to secure a sole-source quasi-cost-plus contract, under the guise of a fixed-price arrangement, with help from its bought-and-paid-for Congressional reps. And in fact NASA gave them extra funds (nearly 300M, iirc) improperly. But with their now-dysfunctional corporate culture, they lost, utterly. Their sure-fire bet didn’t pay off. Only the aforementioned marketing department and wishful thinking persuades upper management to stick with the program—for now. Expect more political shenanigans, with eventual failure nonetheless.
All this presumes there are any significant number of successful Starliner manned flights at all. What happens if one or more of the upcoming scheduled astronauts says to management: “Replace me on this flight and shift me to the Dragon roster, or I walk, and say why.”
Think it might not happen? It would if I was on the roster.
There are no remaining man-rated Atlas boosters left from ULA. So how could there be any expectation of winning any private commercial flights. Unfortunately Nasa will probably shovel pork to ULA to man rate the Vulcan and Blue Origin to man rate New Glenn with the excuse of having to have an alternative to SpaceX. Then since the Starliner abort system can’t use fairings there will have to be some kind of abort testing. Again Nasa will be wasting our taxpayer money this.
Ray Vane Dune: I strongly suspect some astronauts have already done exactly what you say. In October ’20 Boeing’s planned commander for the first mission stepped down because he claimed the flight would prevent him from attending his daughter’s wedding. In October ’21 NASA shifted the planned first Starliner crew to a Dragon mission in order to get them in space instead of doing nothing while Starliner remain grounded. Later, NASA reduced the crew for the first flight from 3 to 2.
In all these cases, there are totally logical reasons for the crew changes that could have nothing to do with a reluctance to fly on Starliner. It is also quite possible that this reluctance, unstated publicly, contributed to the changes.
Bob, you said “In all these cases, there are totally logical reasons for the crew changes that could have nothing to do with a reluctance to fly on Starliner.”
Exactly, this is the posture that a professional would have to take in order to avoid being shut out of ever flying anything. But while they can fool the public, you can bet that the message is loud and clear within the corps.
As for a commander giving up a spaceflight to attend a daughter’s wedding, that just doesn’t pass the smell test! No real astronaut would make that choice, and furthermore, no real astronaut’s daughter would ask him to!
I’m encouraging Boeing to rename Starliner to Starliner 777.
“I’m encouraging Boeing to rename Starliner to Starliner 777.”
Starliner 666 might be more like it.
GaryMike – Did you mean 787? The 777 is the opposite of the troubled 787 program imo.
Perhaps the best engineers at the company get to work on the X37. That line of development seems the most likely to turn into a workhorse. Think adaptations to exploration of Venus and Jupiter.
David,
787? You’re correct.
Personal inaccuracy due to personal indifference.
Totally loved the 747: of a time when Boeing actually earned our respect for accomplishment and our corresponding need for accuracy.
GaryMike –
You’re 100% right about the 747 and that time in the company’s (and our) history!
Cheers!
Anything to keep your friends ,buddies and your next job open.
To George C
You are probably right. Now if only they ran the company. Boeing needs its own Musk.