WOEING: Boeing is still bleeding money on the Starliner commercial crew program.

Apart from technical execution, Ortberg identified Boeing’s errors in cost and risk estimation as other reasons for the company’s poor performance on several fixed-price government contracts, including Starliner.

“We’re not going to be able to just wave the wand and clean up these troubled contracts,” he said. “We signed up to some things that are problematic.”

Ortberg said he is reluctant to ditch all of Boeing’s troubled contracts. “Even if we wanted to, I don’t think we can walk away from these contracts,” he said. “These are our core customers that need this capability. We’ve got long-term commitments to them. So walking away isn’t an answer to this.”

However, Orberg added that Boeing could reassess programs as they shift from one contract phase to the next. NASA’s commercial crew contract with Boeing has a maximum value of $4.6 billion, but that assumes the agency gives Boeing the green light to fly six operational Starliner missions.

Assuming Starliner flies six missions with four astronauts at the fixed price of $90 million per seat (SpaceX Crew Dragon costs $65 million per seat), Starliner would generate $2.16 billion in revenue for Boeing.

That’s revenue, not profit, for a program that’s already cost Boeing $1.85 billion in losses. If there’s a business case remaining for Starliner, it must be incredibly slender.

THIS JUST CAME IN: Boeing Explores Sale of Space Business.

The effort, part of a strategy by Boeing’s new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg to streamline the company and stem its financial losses, is at an early stage and may not result in a deal.

Boeing faces a deepening financial crisis. Its largest labor union has rejected two contract proposals and extended a strike that has halted most of its airplane production. Meanwhile, Boeing’s space and defense projects have been hobbled by delays and cost overruns.

For decades, the company has worked hand-in-glove on big National Aeronautics and Space Administration programs, including the Apollo astronaut missions and creating the space station. In recent years, SpaceX has supplanted Boeing’s role as a top agency partner. NASA recently opted to have two astronauts wait months for a ride back from the ISS on a SpaceX craft after problems emerged on Starliner’s first-ever human spaceflight.

Boeing is expected to keep its position overseeing the Space Launch System, some of the people said. The SLS is a huge rocket NASA is paying the company to build to start future lunar-exploration missions. The rocket successfully completed its first flight for NASA about two years ago, though Boeing has faced production challenges and quality control issues with the system.

I’m guessing that’s because SLS is an irresistible (and unaffordable for NASA) cash cow.