Boeing Clashes With Key Supplier Ahead Of US Spacecraft Launch: Report
NDTV
The CST-100 Starliner is scheduled for a May 19 Florida launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket to the International Space Station, with Boeing aiming to show NASA that the spacecraft is safe to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost.
Boeing Co is feuding with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a key supplier for its Starliner spacecraft, as the US aerospace giant races to test launch the uncrewed astronaut capsule and mend its reputation in the space sector, people familiar with the matter said.
The CST-100 Starliner is scheduled for a May 19 Florida launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket to the International Space Station, with Boeing aiming to show NASA that the spacecraft is safe to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. Software failures cut short a similar 2019 uncrewed test flight.
The mission is a crucial step toward re-establishing Boeing as a viable rival to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX, a drive complicated by Boeing's disagreement with propulsion system supplier Aerojet, according to three people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Chicago-based Boeing and El Segundo, California-based Aerojet are at odds over the cause of a problem involving fuel valves in the Starliner propulsion system that forced a postponement of a test flight last July, with the two companies faulting one another, the sources said.
