Elon Musk Lauds New Boeing CEO After NASA Picks SpaceX To Return Starliner Crew: 'This Is The Right Thing To Do'

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday expressed optimism for rival rocket maker Boeing Space BA under its new CEO, hours after NASA announced that the astronauts who went to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner would return via a SpaceX vehicle.

What Happened: “The new Boeing CEO is spending time in the factories. That is the right thing to do,” Musk said. The new Boeing CEO, Kelly Ortberg, took the reins of the company from Dave Calhoun earlier this month. Ortberg then said that he would be based in Seattle, close to the company’s manufacturing facilities in Renton.

Musk’s comment on Boeing comes hours after NASA announced that it would return the two astronauts who went to space via Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft- Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore- via a SpaceX vehicle in February. The Starliner spacecraft would return to Earth by itself in early September, the agency said, citing its commitment to safety.

Why It Matters: Williams and Wilmore launched into space on June 5 aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Though the two were supposed to return in about eight days, technical issues identified with the spacecraft while docking delayed the return journey. 

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has been marred by several delays since the start. The spacecraft was supposed to have its first uncrewed test flight in 2015 which was delayed up to 2019. The spacecraft then failed to achieve its intended orbit. In 2022, the spacecraft completed its first successful uncrewed flight to the International Space Station.

Musk in May pegged the delay at Boeing on "too many non-technical managers" at the company, reiterating his opinion that manufacturing companies should have engineers at the management level.

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