A new report finds Boeing's rockets are built with an unqualified work force
NASA's report reveals Boeing's Exploration Upper Stage is seven years late and costs have surged to $2.8 billion due to workforce issues. The EUS is vital for the Artemis program.
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A recent report from NASA's inspector general highlights significant issues with Boeing's quality control practices in the development of the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The EUS project is seven years behind schedule and projected costs have ballooned to $2.8 billion, three times the original estimate. The report attributes these delays and cost overruns to Boeing's unqualified workforce, which lacks sufficient aerospace production experience. This has led to numerous "Corrective Action Requests" and unsatisfactory welding operations, resulting in components that do not meet NASA's specifications. Despite these findings, NASA has opted not to impose financial penalties on Boeing, citing existing contractual provisions for addressing noncompliance. The EUS is critical for NASA's Artemis program, aimed at returning humans to the Moon, with its first use planned for the Artemis IV mission in 2028. However, the report suggests that various factors, including the readiness of other mission components, may further delay this timeline.
- Boeing's Exploration Upper Stage development is seven years behind schedule and costs have tripled.
- Quality control issues stem from an unqualified workforce lacking aerospace experience.
- NASA has declined to impose penalties on Boeing despite significant deficiencies.
- The EUS is essential for the Artemis program, with its first use planned for 2028.
- The project faces additional delays due to dependencies on other mission components.
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7 commentsNow, that's kinda how manufacturing works. You start with a product that is hand assembled by your $200/hr engineers and try to get it to the point where it's being mass produced by $20/hr techs and/or automated machinery. The issue is, how skilled are you at training those techs and setting up automation? If your management culture is dogshit at organizing literally anything, you're gonna have a bad time. You can take random people off the street and teach them to assemble spacecraft faster than you'd expect, but you need to be deliberate about it. Basically, this isn't an issue of using unwashed "non-areospace" workers, it's Boeing management and high level engineers continuing to be trash.
On the flip side, Spacex is relatively organized, but they'll have their moment when they run their course as a hot startup, failures and lessons lead to "process" and they can no longer get infinite new talent for the meat grinder. They almost make a point of not retaining, they want their workforce on edge at all times and you can only do that so long, all their talent is running off with their knowledge to other startups.
How do new employees gain the experience if they can't get the job without experience?
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