Space: Billionaires and Boeing

Space has gotten hot. It’s in the news a lot, which is a relief, cause I’m so tired of hearing about COVID. Will this thing never end? Space, the final frontier... That’s the ticket to getting us a nice respite from this nightmare. Thank goodness for these American multi-billionaires that have their hearts set on being astronauts, exploring space and colonizing planets.

I’ve been getting lots of calls lately from reporters who are covering the adventures of Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and their companies. But let’s not forget that the legacy companies remain in the picture. They are concerned that they may be getting eclipsed by the new guys on the block, but I wouldn’t count them out just yet. Boeing, for example. Here’s a nice quote I got from Florida Today regarding Boeing’s upcoming launch of its Starliner capsule...

Marco Caceres, space analyst for Teal Group, says Boeing is in danger of becoming a sideline player. "I think they're scared to death because they know that they cannot compete with SpaceX on pricing, they just can't. But if they can at least compete on reliability and dependability then I think the government will prefer to keep the legacy company around at least as insurance,' Caceres said.

In addition to the commercial crew contract, Boeing is also the prime contractor building the core stage of NASA's powerful SLS moon rocket, but Caceres said they shouldn't depend on that. No contract is secure as evidenced by last week's contract awarded to SpaceX, Caceres said. "I think if (the launch) doesn't go according to plan, then everything is up for grabs."

Caceres was referring to NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft to investigate Jupiter's moon. The mission was slated to launch on the SLS rocket but in a surprising move NASA selected the Falcon Heavy rocket and awarded the $178 million contract to SpaceX. "At this point what Boeing's goal should be is to stay in the game so that it can continue to compete for the foreseeable future," Caceres said.

Here's another nice one from UPI...

Boeing should be worried about the test, said Marco Cáceres, space analyst for the Teal Group based in Fairfax, Va. "It's really clear that SpaceX has become the establishment player," Cáceres said. "NASA is getting very accustomed and comfortable with SpaceX's culture, and my gut feeling is if Boeing doesn't get this totally right, they're done, in terms of providing launch services for NASA."

And yet, NASA very much wants a second option for reaching the space station, he said. "I think NASA is rooting for Boeing and hoping it goes well and hoping they can rely on two providers," Cáceres said. "History shows that NASA loses if there's only one big company they can rely on for something. The space program thrives with competition."

NASA also could use the leverage of having two astronaut spacecraft in negotiations with Russia, he said. NASA has been purchasing seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for up to $80 million to reach the space station. "Russia has had an ace in the hole by selling Soyuz seats to NASA, but with two providers, with Boeing, there's no chance NASA would pay one penny to Russia for launch services again," Cáceres said.

Okay, enough tooting my horn.