Exclusive: SpaceX, Boeing's design risks threaten new delays for US space program

SEATTLE (Reuters) – According to industry sources and a new government report, NASA has warned SpaceX and Boeing Co of design and safety issues for their competing astronaut launch systems, which would threaten the US bid to restart its bid. manned space flight program later this year.

NASA donates US $ 2.6 billion to SpaceX and US $ 4.2 billion to Boeing for the construction of rocket and capsule launching systems that allow astronauts to bring US astronauts back to the International Space Station for the first time. first time since the closure of the US Space Shuttle program in 2011.

Just before the first unmanned test flight scheduled for March 2 as part of NASA's commercial flight crew program, NASA's Safety Advisory Committee cited four "key risk elements" in its 2018 annual report released earlier this month.

For Boeing, they include the structural vulnerability of the capsule when deploying the heat shield. For SpaceX, the report mentioned the redesign of a SpaceX rocket cartridge following an explosion in 2016 and its on-the-fly loading process of fueling the rocket with the crew already inside of the capsule. "Parachute performance" remained a problem for both companies.

"The current launch schedules for SpaceX and Boeing pose serious problems," the report says.

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Two people familiar with the program told Reuters that the space agency's concerns went beyond the four elements listed and included a risk register that contained, in early February, 30 to 35 persistent technical concerns for SpaceX and Boeing. Reuters could not verify which were the nearly three dozen items. But sources close to the case said companies had to deal with "most" of these problems before they could send astronauts and possibly tourists into space.

NASA's risk database is regularly updated during NASA's rigorous certification process, which includes data collection, testing, and collaboration with SpaceX and Boeing, these people said. The Boeing and SpaceX systems have already been delayed several times in recent years, which is common in this sector because of the complexity of building multi-billion dollar spacecraft capable of reducing Earth's gravity. .

NASA spokesman Joshua Finch confided the confidentiality of all technical issues related to the Boeing and SpaceX systems, but said: "Stealing safely always takes precedence over the schedule."

Boeing spokesman Josh Barrett said the company had "eliminated" the risk of structural vulnerability of the capsule at the end of its structural testing program in January. Although Boeing tackles a number of other problems, "they do not bring about any major changes to the architectural system."

"Our numbers show that we are exceeding NASA's safety requirements," said Barrett.

SpaceX spokesman James Gleeson said the company, in collaboration with NASA, had developed "one of the safest and most advanced manned spaceflight systems ever built".

"SpaceX is nothing more important than safe driving," said Gleeson, calling the goal "fundamental to our company's long-term goal of providing access to people who dream of flying in the air." 'space".

Founded by Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, SpaceX has reduced the cost of rocket launches with its innovative reusable rocket technology.

The clock is turning. The United States is paying about $ 80 million per ticket to Russia for the International Space Station, a $ 100 billion orbital research laboratory that flies about 402 km above the Earth.

Given production schedules and other factors, there is no space available for the US crew on the Russian satellite after 2019. NASA announced last week that it was considering paying two more seats at the station. space for this fall and spring of 2020 to ensure access for the United States.

NASA's plan for additional seats was announced a week after its security committee said Congress should submit a "mitigation plan" in case delays would threaten US access to the station space – echoing the concerns previously expressed by the US Accountability Office.

NASA will conduct a flight readiness review on Friday for the unmanned SpaceX mission on March 2. NASA will decide whether to approve the unmanned test flight, while SpaceX addresses the issues raised for a human mission.

WEAKNESSES PARACHUTES

Three people familiar with the project said that the US Space Agency had identified design differences between the previous SpaceX capsules designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station and a newer version designed to transport humans.

Some of the risks – such as those identified in the design of huge parachutes that deploy when the capsule collapses on Earth at supersonic speeds – are rare given the proximity with which SpaceX is about to test flights , said two people.

The timing of the deployment of SpaceX parachutes and the interaction of the parachutes themselves raised concerns about the parachutists' performance and the ability to slow down the capsule enough for the safety of the crew, two people said. .

SpaceX has already completed 17 parachute tests for the commercial team program, and an additional 10 tests are planned before Crew Dragon's second demonstration mission, Gleeson said. He also said that his parachute systems are designed with redundancy, so that the vehicle can still be safely projected in case of a parachute failure.

The NASA safety committee said in its report that SpaceX may need to rethink its parachute system. A new design would probably trigger more testing and potentially weeks or months of extra delays, two people said.

NASA has also discovered system design issues that allow the SpaceX capsule to be placed in a vertical position once it lands in the ocean, increasing the risk of capturing excessive amounts of water, according to two reports. sector sources and confirmed by a NASA official.

SpaceX's Gleeson said the outer shell of Crew Dragon was water resistant and the spacecraft itself was floating and posed no risk to crew members after a crash.

RISK OF MORE DELAYS

NASA announced earlier this month that SpaceX was now targeting March 2 instead of Feb. 23 for its unmanned test flight with Dragon, with its astronaut flight scheduled for July. NASA explained this delay by mentioning vague concerns for both subcontractors, such as the need to perform hardware tests and other work.

NASA said Boeing's unmanned Starliner would not be flying in April, with the crewed mission scheduled for August. According to the NASA report, this program is now under threat.

Boeing's challenges include last year's failure in a test of its launch engines, which knocked out caustic fuel on the test bed, Boeing's Barrett said. The accident is due to faulty valves that Boeing has remodeled and ordered from the supplier, although the new valves have to be retested, Barrett said.

Test flights are also part of the data collection required to close some of the risk elements, NASA said.

"SpaceX and Boeing present challenges, both comparable, from a security perspective," said a US government source.