Finally Happened! NASA Just Realized How SpaceX Dragon Better Than Boeing Starliner...

in the past month alone the Starliner has faced four delays highlighting ongoing challenges for a spacecraft designed for human transport Yes you heard correctly it's intended to FY humans into space what a disappointment but this is just one in a series of letdowns that NASA and Boeing have endured with this vehicle over the years as patience wears thin NASA May finally be acknowledging what many have long suspected spacex's Dragon outshines Boeing's Starliner join us on today's episode of great SpaceX as we recap the Litany of disappointments Starliner has brought thus far comparing its shortcomings to the successes of dragon and exploring what lies ahead for this troubled spacecraft after many years of anticipation Star liner's first crude flight seemed imminent astronauts were seated in the crew capsule fuel was loaded and the countdown began envisioning the space spacecraft's historic docking with the ISS many anticipated a new chapter in Starliner development however excitement turned to disappointment when a valve problem on Atlas 5 Centaur second stage prompted the scrubbing of the May 6th attempt subsequent setbacks followed including the discovery of a helium leak on Starliner this Cascade of issues led to delays on May 17th the 21st the 25th and the most recent postponement to the 1st of June initially deemed a minor issue the helium leak has proven more challenging than anticipated casting doubt on the 1st of June schedule are we facing the final delay share your thoughts with a simple yes or a no in the comment section down below the recent major delays are just the latest in a series of disappointments that have plagued NASA and the Aerospace industry over the past decade let's delve into how Starliner has dashed NASA's hopes in 2014 Starliner and spacex's dragon were chosen by NASA for the commercial crew program Mission tasked with performing six crw missions each NASA's expectations were high aiming to restore the US's autonomy in human space flight however a closer look reveals a bias towards Boeing NASA's long-standing partnership with Boeing seemed to tilt the scales in their favor evident in the Hefty 4.5 billion dollar contracts awarded to Boeing in two installments in contrast SpaceX viewed with less favor due to its status as a private company with few operational years received a measly $2.6 billion contract for spacecraft development the current reality deals a strong blow to that perception while Starliner has only reached the ISS once with an uncrewed Mission so far it's still grappling with its first crew mission keep in mind that the upcoming mission is termed the crew flight test indicating it's not yet part of NASA's commercial crew program in contrast spacex's dragon has completed an impressive nine crew missions for NASA including a demo Mission dragon's versatility extends Beyond NASA missions as it also caters to private crew missions notably the upcoming Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission in the third quarter of this year a feat yet to be achieved by Starliner in terms of cargo missions dragon has completed a staggering 30 missions overshadowing star liner's efforts which there isn't any even if Dragon ceased operations now and star fulfilled all its assigned missions it would still lag behind dragon's accomplishments however such a scenario is unlikely as SpaceX and dragon show no signs of slowing down poised to accelerate their Endeavors further in the future Starliner setbacks extend beyond its flight achievements impacting the company behind its Creation with significant losses in 2023 alone Starliner reported a staggering loss of$ 1.47 billion US a figure that likely escalated further following recent months of delay faced with this Grim reality B CEO Dave Calhoun candidly acknowledged we have a couple of fixed price development programs we have to just finish and never do them again these delays not only carry economic repercussions but also profoundly affect NASA's ISS plans Boeing's failures against SpaceX are glaring as evidenced by NASA's need to procure up to eight additional crew missions from dragon in 20121 and 2022 due to starliners delays this experience is undoubtedly un forgettable for NASA reflect on what NASA's current position would be if they hadn't procured those additional missions SpaceX has fulfilled its initial six assigned missions since March of 2023 without SpaceX NASA might find itself incapable of sending people to the ISS despite a $4.5 billion contract interestingly the number 4.5 takes on an added significance it's been 4 and A2 years since starlander sole Rendevous with the ISS in 2019 the humiliation is palpable as echoed in a tweet from Elon Musk founder of SpaceX and owner of dragon Starliner rival the world doesn't need another capsule what matters is fully reusable rockets and spacecraft if you resonate with elon's sentiment please show your support by liking the video sharing it and subscribing to the channel aside from performance and financial woses starlander faces the bitter reality of lacking the reliability synonymous with with dragon dragon's track record boasts only one anomaly occurring during the CRS 7 cargo mission in 2015 attributed to Falcon 9 since then dragon has maintained an impressive reliability with crew Dragon boasting a Flawless 100% success rate in stark contrast Starliner reliability has remained dubious Boeing's attempts to reach the ISS have been scanted with one of the two missions ending in Failure when it failed to connect and dock with the ISS the upcoming Mission will utilize Iz the same prototype Calypso which previously encountered issues should history repeat itself it would spell disaster as this mission is crude troubles extend beyond flights to testing phases in July of 2018 a hypergolic leak due to valve failure initiated a prolonged delay with crude missions by 2023 Starliner faced two additional critical issues flammable tape interwoven with wiring inside the capsule posing flight risks and flaws in the spacecraft's parachute system pivotal for landing such risks are untenable for a passenger vehicle although these systems were rectified between last year and early this lingering apprehension pervades the Aerospace community in the recent helium leak incident Boeing maintains that it won't pose a direct threat to astronauts okay to astronauts however fuel leaks always raise concerns as they can deplete fuel reserves what if there isn't enough fuel to reach the ISS I mean a no gas station out there the astrobotic lunar Mission earlier this year serves as a stark example a fuel leak led to the spacecraft failure to reach the moon post launch these ongoing issues render Starliner vulnerable and passive in the future Space Race while we've extensively compared starlander and dragon it's evident that starlander even in the absence of dragon is unlikely to dominate the orbital crew launch market Dreamchaser for instance has completed all preparations and has been transported to Florida flid unlike Starliner Dreamchaser exhibited no issues during testing and boasts a unique design that Starliner lacks even though the race hasn't officially begun Starliner faces a bleak future moving forward is imperative for Starliner beginning with the crucial cft1 flight the success of this Mission will significantly shape star liner's trajectory following cft1 Starliner will proceed with the Starliner One mission as per NASA's contracts slated for 2025 any issues encountered during CF 1 could Cascade further delaying subsequent missions and exacerbating Boeing's challenges looking ahead the timeline for Starliner appears tight with the envisaged start of Starliner 1 in 2025 Boeing has roughly 5 to 6 years to fulfill the contractual requirement of six crew flights before the retirement of the ISS this translates to launching at least one flight annually or more if delays persist while launching one flight per year seems feasible start liner's track record suggests otherwise as we await developments on the June 1st on June 1st in Florida it marks a critical juncture for Boeing and Starliner potentially signaling the spacecraft's conclusion or the commencement of a new chapter the only thing we can do now is wait and see well folks that's about it for today's episode thank you so much for tuning in and as always this has been Kevin from great SpaceX and until next time keep looking up