Current score: SpaceX2, Boeing (NYSE: BA)0.
At 11:01 a.m. EST on November 17, approximately 27 hours after taking off from Cape Canaveral, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule, which docked four astronauts with the International Space Station (ISS), marked the ISS ‘second successful voyage from U.S. soil. The space shuttle program closed in 2011.
Equally important for SpaceX, it marked the company’s first “operational” mission to the ISS with a spacecraft that is both human-rated and NASA-certified. Indeed, as of today, SpaceX has the only commercial spaceflight system in operation that meets these two standards. That’s because SpaceX has cleared the bar that last week’s flight-taking mission “crew-.“It simply came to our notice then Second The spacecraft SpaceX sent astronauts into space.
Overcharge, underliver?
Boeing, which was awarded the NASA contract to develop a human-rated spacecraft on the same day that SpaceX received its contract, still has one successful operation left. Unmanned ISS flight test of its Starliner spacecraft. Its first attempt, which took place about a year ago, failed to reach the ISS when the engines of the Starliner spacecraft could not fire at the right time.
Boeing still plans another unmanned attempt (at a cost of 4 10,410 million that Boeing will pay for itself), followed by a crew mission to the ISS, but no pay firm date has been announced for any of the incidents, and space observers predict that months Will be. Before a Boeing astronaut set foot in the ISS.
First result: With each passing week, Boeing lags behind SpaceX in the corporate space race.
Second result: As it goes on for so long, more Congress will have to question Boeing’s decision to pay ૨ 6.5 billion to build its Starliner (which has not yet reached the ISS), when only 6 6.6 billion was taken by SpaceX (Crew Dragon). For) that has been there twice).
What does that mean for Boeing
This is quickly becoming a shame for Boeing, but the biggest risk for investors is this: what happens if NASA decides (or Congress calls it a decision) that Boeing is no longer eligible to pay a premium for its rocket launch based on its excellent reliability. ?
According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Boeing’s Department of Defense, Space and Security is currently the most profitable business. On Boeing generates an operating profit margin of 9.8% on revenue of 2 2.8 billion in the most recent quarter (a loss of $ 1.1 billion in Boeing’s commercial airplane segment). Has given the authority to resume flights. With this authorization in hand, airlines may once again be willing to take delivery of ordered 737 Max aircraft, or make new purchases when air travel demand resumes. (It’s the beauty of running an industrial organization business like Boeing. When one department breaks down, the other has to rotate and the slick is taken.) However, investors can be forgiven for Boeing’s wish, whose stock has fallen 45%. . Last year, maybe started firing on all cylinders for a change.
And it could still be. Finally, after multiple launches were delayed, Boeing’s rocket-launching joint venture Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, Did Finally get its NROL-1 rocket into orbit this week – the company’s 141st consecutive successful launch. That would have relieved the space company.
Today marks the 141st launch of the United Launch Alliance and our 29th for the National Rick Onna Office Fees. The ULA is honored to move forward with our national security partnership AtNatReconOfc Starting # NROL 101, A payload design, built and operated by the agency. pic.twitter.com/lnmt4sGWCW
– ULA (laulalaunch) November 13, 2020
And there is always the hope that, when Boeing finally makes some of its other Starliner efforts, the launches will run without a hitch.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, Boeing’s key rivals are facing their own difficulties. On Tuesday, for the second time in three launches, an aerospace Vega rocket failed to reach orbit and lost its target as a result. Two days earlier – about the time SpaceX’s crew was heading to Dragon Orbit – Russia’s TASS news agency announced the pay-off and layoffs at Russia’s Roscosmos.
The former incident may have little significance for Boeing, which does not normally compete with Arian on commercial missions, while the latter incident seems to be linked to the expected loss of revenue in Roscosmos if NASA now stops buying spaceX’s Russian rocket-riding astronaut seats. He has proven himself capable of handling the mission. Still, it seems Boeing is not alone in the space companies that are struggling right now.
But that only makes the star of SpaceX brighter.
