Investing in space: Boeing and SpaceX had a big week that exposed their differences

Boeing’s Starliner fulfilled a long-held NASA dream when Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams emerged from the capsule onto the ISS. Yes, the docking process was a bit wobbly, but the company and organization pulled through to reach the space station despite more helium leaks and some tricky thrusters. Launches can attract attention, but I know that most involved in the Starliner program only felt relief after the “contact and capture” call confirmed the spacecraft’s arrival.

As Starliner approached its milestone, SpaceX’s Starship thundered off the pad for the fourth time. Each of these monster rocket test flights went further than the last, but for the first time this one went the distance. Starship checked off more crucial development boxes – all while putting on a show with a nail-biting ending, with a cracked camera peering through the soot at the little flap that could.

The Star-things’ converging milestone moments raise a question I’ve been asked more than a few times: What’s the difference between Boeing and SpaceX?

I usually get that question in the context of comparing Starliner to SpaceX’s Dragon, now a veteran of human spaceflight, or the latter company’s dominant run in winning government contracts for launches, exploration missions and more.

Look, I have zero fault tolerance (to borrow words from NASA’s CAPCOM yesterday on ISS safety policy) because I mixed up the deployment of the Starliner crew with the fourth test of Starship. The simple reality is that one carried the precious cargo of two souls, and the other is hundreds of launches away from matching that.

But one aspect of the flights shows a difference in the way the companies approach the space: the visuals.

Starliner had a few minutes of classic Space Coast launch views… and then nothing but a few animations with telemetry data overlays afterward. For the next 25 hours we didn’t see Butch or Suni, nor did we witness the view from Starliner’s journey. Why? Apparently it wasn’t a contract requirement outside of “critical mission phases,” and Boeing doesn’t expect this feature to be added “for a few flights.”

Starship’s launch, on the other hand, was cinematic, providing almost continuous live onboard footage from dozens of angles throughout the flight. Millions of people have now seen the rocket’s Raptors crackle on post-dawn takeoff, the booster sliding back through the atmosphere, the Earth whizzing past, the rainbow plasma of reentry, and doing that flapper its best Terminator 2 impression.

The difference in the spaceflight footage belies an ethos behind what SpaceX does versus Boeing: SpaceX sells the future, while Boeing honors an agreement.

The public interest, judged by the imperfect measure of viral posts on social media, also shows that difference. While my recent coverage of the vehicles is 10-to-1 in Starliner’s favor, yesterday I couldn’t open Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit, or even LinkedIn without seeing Starship. The few Starliner posts I saw were from official NASA accounts or industry people celebrating the milestone.

For someone like me who follows the industry closely, it is not lost on how mind-boggling an achievement it is for Boeing to fly astronauts safely to the space station. After all, in the grand scheme of American human spaceflight history, Starliner is the sixth U.S.-built vehicle to carry astronauts into orbit.

But Boeing’s performance was more or less met with a shrug of the shoulders by the audience, while Starship was captivating. Part of the difference with someone working in a TV newsroom comes from appreciating the power of stunning live viewing.

• NASA rejects a private proposal to reinvigorate the aging Hubble telescope: SpaceX, along with billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman, signed a study agreement with the agency in September 2022. Although Hubble continues to suffer from faulty gyroscopes and switches to a more limited operating mode, an official said the agency feared “potential risks such as premature loss of science and some technological challenges.” – Space News
• China’s lunar return mission on its way back to Earth: The Chang’e 6 spacecraft collected samples, unfurled a Chinese flag on the far side of the moon and then lifted off from the surface and is expected to land on June 25. –TheGuardian
• Russian cosmonaut reaches a total of 1,000 days in space: Oleg Kononenko, currently on his fifth spaceflight, has set a new cumulative spacetime record for any human. – AP
• Axiom shows progress on lunar spacesuits: The company said it tested how the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) will be used with parts of Starship at SpaceX headquarters. – Axiom
• An inspector general audit finds NASA is being too heavy-handed in its commercial lunar cargo program. also known as CLPS. The audit found that the agency’s “increasingly risk-averse practices and policies” have “resulted in increased costs and delayed delivery schedules.” –NASA OIG
• Slingshot is rolling out an AI satellite tracking tool alongside DARPA He says the Agatha artificial intelligence system will be able to identify “anomalous spacecraft within large satellite constellations.” – Catapult Aviation
• SES and Planet perform a data relay demo for NASA, in what the companies say is the first commercial method of passing data between satellites in multiple orbits. The companies conducted the demo for NASA as the agency looks for a private development replacement for TDRSS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System). – Via satellite
• Rocket Labs Electron completes NASA’s PREFIRE launches, with the two missions launching within eleven days of each other. PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) are climate-focused satellites that measure heat lost into space from Earth’s polar regions. – Rocket Lab
• Mega satellite startup K2 tests fires bow thruster, a krypton-powered Hall-effect thruster that the company says will use 20 kilowatts of power, making it four times the power of any known Hall-effect thruster flown to date. The company is preparing for its first satellite launch later this year. – RuimteNieuws
• adds FAA Virgo Galactic and Sierra Space to its live flight data tracker, with the companies joining SpaceX as part of the regulator’s Space Data Integrator (SDI). This tool allows the FAA to reopen airspace more quickly after spacecraft launch or return. – FAA

• Lockheed orders $375 million worth of rocket launches from Firefly, which will include a block purchase of 25 Alpha rockets for launches through 2029, including an initial mission later this year. Firefly has not disclosed the value of the contract, but is advertising Alpha at $15 million per launch. – Firefly
• Iridium awarded a $94 million Space Force contractThe five-year agreement will see Iridium use its Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) to support “critical US government applications.” – Iridium
• Black sky adds $7 million contract extension from an unnamed international government client, and the duration of the deal is also not disclosed. – Black sky

• Astra going private soon, with the company submitting updated information on the merger process and background information on how it came to be in this position. The company also announced that it is relocating its satellite propulsion manufacturing facility to consolidate at its headquarters in Alameda, California. – Astra / SpaceNews

• Sir Peter Beck knighted in New Zealand, with the country appointing Rocket Lab’s CEO as a “Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the aerospace industry.” – Crux
• Jonathan Lunine named chief scientist at NASA’s JPL, who came to the agency from Cornell University. –NASA
• Karlton Johnson named CEO of the National Space Society, joining the organization in addition to his role as CEO of Delaine, an advisory group. Johnson takes over the helm of NSS from former CEO Anita Gale, who recently passed away unexpectedly. – NSS

• June 7: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from Florida.
• June 8: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from California.
• June 8: Virgin Galactic’s Unity launches the Galactic-07 mission from New Mexico.
• June 12: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from Florida.
• June 13: NASA spacewalk at the ISS.