Starliner and other projects for NASA could be on Boeing’s chopping block.
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Kelly Ortberg, who took over as Boeing CEO in August, is weighing the sale of the company’s space division as part of an attempt to turn things around, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The plans, which are reportedly at an early stage, could involve Boeing offloading the Starliner spacecraft and its projects supporting the International Space Station.
Boeing is facing a series of predicaments, including a fraud charge over 737 Max plane crashes and Starliner issues that left two astronauts at the ISS for months. Just this week, a Boeing-made satellite for Intelsat stopped working and fell apart suddenly after suffering an “anomaly.”
“We’re better off doing less and doing it better than doing more and not doing it well,” Ortberg said during an earnings call this week. “Clearly, our core of commercial airplanes and defense systems are going to stay with the Boeing Company for the long run. But there’s probably some things on the fringe there that we can be more efficient with or that distract us from our main goal here.”
However, sources tell the WSJ that Boeing will likely continue to oversee the Space Launch System, which will eventually help bring NASA astronauts back to the Moon. It’s also reportedly expected to hang onto its commercial and military satellite businesses.
Ortberg will have some big changes to make in the coming months, especially as the company continues to bleed cash. Boeing’s earnings results on Wednesday revealed $6.17 billion in losses during the quarter, with the company burning through $250 million on its Starliner project alone. The company predicts that it continue to lose money throughout 2025.
