After several rounds of competitive development contracts within the Commercial Crew Program starting in 2010, NASA selected Starliner, along with the SpaceX Crew Dragon, in the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract round.[12][13][14][15] The first crewed test flight test was initially planned to occur in 2017.[15]
The first unmanned Orbital Flight Test did not occur until December 20, 2019, and was deemed a partial failure. A second Orbital Flight Test was required, which took Boeing over two years to complete on May 19, 2022. After multiple further delays, the Crew Flight Test launched on June 5, 2024.[16][17] The flight, originally scheduled for eight days, has not been approved to return to Earth until problems with thrusters on the spacecraft are solved or better understood.
Boeing has lost more than $1.5 billion in budget overruns on the Starliner project which has been marred by delays, management issues and engineering challenges. The price paid per flight has also drawn criticism from NASA's inspector general and from observers who point to significantly lower costs on the competing Crew Dragon.
^Morring, Jr., Frank (April 25, 2011). "Five Vehicles Vie For Future Of U.S. Human Spaceflight". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. "the CCDev-2 awards... went to Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX)
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