Successful Launch of the Boeing Starliner

Kudos to Boeing and NASA for the triumphant launch of the Starliner aboard an Atlas V rocket, carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The duo is tasked with delivering vital cargo to the space station, including a replacement pump for the malfunctioning urine processor that’s part of the water recovery system. With a seven-member crew on the station, one can envision the quick accumulation of urine. Let’s hope they were well-stocked with zip-lock bags.

Crewed space vehicles must rise to extra design requirements and certification steps over uncrewed launch systems. A crewed vehicle must be highly reliable with redundant systems and levels of control that the crew can take charge of to qualify for a human rating. According to NASA protocol requirements, to qualify under NASA CCP human-rating standard, the probability of a loss ascent and loss on descent should be no greater than 1 in 500 each way. The overall mission risk of loss, including on orbit, must not exceed 1 in 270.

The program shall be designed so that the cumulative probability of safe crew return over the life of the program exceeds 0.99. This will be accomplished through the use of all available mechanisms including mission success, abort, safe haven, and crew escape. Source: NASAs Human Rating Requirements.

The development of a human-rated space launch system that intends to use equipment and systems that have not been previously flight tested has a tough row to hoe. Entire buildings of cold, skeptical eyes will insist on being satisfied before any new system goes to launch. But this is true for the aerospace industry and the FAA in general. Software driven systems present challenges to software designers to get past a validation.

The string of crashes, delays and failures that Boeing has endured in the last few years is certainly noteworthy. Some have lamented that the company culture has drifted away from its earlier strong engineering culture to something else. Perhaps drifting MBA curricula and B-school faculty & consultant enthusiasms have contributed to some kind of inflection point in the thinking of the present C-suite inhabitants. Whatever the case, Boeing had better get its Mojo back.