The NASA space mission was designed to be a science driver, boosting and directing science work, advancing engineering, and transforming especially the aerospace industry. For decades Boeing embraced this mission and had been a vital player in the space program, being instrumental in building the Apollo mission’s Saturn V rocket in the 1960s, it helped build the Space Shuttle in the 1970s, and was the prime contractor in the 1990s to build the International Space Station.
However, Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg wants to downsize the company and questions whether all this space work can “add value to the company or distract us?” according to the Wall Street Journal. He says that beyond the core commercial and defense businesses that most everything is on the table. “We’re better off doing less and doing it better than doing more and not doing it well,” Ortberg said. “What do we want this company to look like five and 10 years from now?”
Boeing has lost $1.4 billion of the Starliner program which has been seven years behind schedule but finally delivered two astronauts to the Space Station on June 6, only to have them stranded there and later rescued by a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Boeing has not had a profitable year since 2018 and is desperate to sell off assets to raise cash to avoid a credit rating flirting with junk status.
