Aerospace large Boeing is below such monetary pressure that it’s exploring the sale of the enterprise unit that helps key NASA missions, sources instructed the Wall Road Journal on Friday.
That might embrace the corporate’s Starliner house taxi program and operations associated to the Worldwide House Station, however wouldn’t embrace NASA’s large House Launch System rocket, the report mentioned.
Such issues occurred even earlier than Kelly Ortberg took over as CEO in August. The Journal mentioned earlier than he got here onboard, Boeing held discussions with Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin house firm about taking up some NASA packages.
A Boeing spokesperson instructed Fortune the corporate doesn’t touch upon market rumors or hypothesis. Blue Origin didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The information comes days after Boeing reported third-quarter outcomes that confirmed a $6 billion loss as its business plane unit has been hobbled by a strike that continues to tug on, with staff rejecting the newest supply.
As well as, mishaps on Boeing passenger jets earlier this yr have introduced the corporate’s manufacturing processes and work tradition below growing scrutiny, additional weighing on its business division.
Throughout Ortberg’s first earnings convention name as CEO on Wednesday, he vowed to make the corporate iconic once more, but additionally prompt it’ll take a tough have a look at items exterior its core business and protection companies.
“We’re higher off doing much less and doing it higher than doing extra and never doing it nicely,” he instructed analysts. “What do we wish this firm to appear to be 5 and 10 years from now? And do this stuff add worth to the corporate or distract us?”
Boeing’s lengthy house legacy contains the enduring Saturn V rocket that took astronauts to the moon throughout the Apollo program in addition to the house shuttle. It’s additionally the prime contractor for the house station.
However its Starliner program suffered a serious setback earlier this yr, when a crewed take a look at flight took two astronauts to the house station however left them caught there as a result of glitches with the capsule.
In August, NASA mentioned it might carry the astronauts again to Earth on a SpaceX mission in February 2025, pushing the astronauts’ complete time in house to eight months, if all goes in line with plan.
In the meantime, SpaceX has been ferrying astronauts to and from the house station for years as the opposite contractor below NASA’s house taxi program. Elon Musk’s firm has additionally emerged as a high supplier of launch companies for the U.S. army, different governments, and corporations all over the world.
SpaceX’s newest triumph was a take a look at flight of its large Starship rocket that noticed its Tremendous Heavy booster land itself on a launch pad earlier this month.
In contrast, Boeing has been lagging on its Starliner house taxi in addition to its House Launch System rocket, which is being designed for deep-space missions. Whereas it had a profitable take a look at launch in 2022, it has suffered delays and price overruns.
For its half, NASA has mentioned it’s a good distance from “writing off Boeing” as an area accomplice and has expressed continued confidence within the firm.
In August, NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson mentioned he’s “100%” sure that Boeing will launch one other crewed mission on Starliner sooner or later, citing the working relationship between NASA and the corporate.
