After Stranding 2 Astronauts At ISS For Months, Boeing Replaces The Head Of Its Starliner Program

Boeing Co. BA has reportedly appointed its International Space Station (ISS) program manager John Mulholland as the leader of its troubled Starliner program, replacing Mark Nappi.

What Happened: Nappi, who previously led the program, is currently in a new role until he retires in February, Reuters reported.

Mulholland led the Starliner program from 2011 before switching to the Boeing International Space Station program in 2020, the report said.

Boeing did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

The Troubled Program: Starliner is a spacecraft being developed by Boeing under a $4.5 billion NASA contract. The spacecraft was expected to shuttle astronauts to and back from the space station, similar to SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. However, the vehicle has been faced with a series of delays and challenges since 2019.

Two astronauts- Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore- launched to ISS on June 5 aboard Starliner as part of a test mission. Though the two were supposed to return in about eight days, technical issues identified with the spacecraft while docking delayed the return journey, and the agency subsequently decided to scrap bringing the astronauts back on the Boeing spacecraft altogether.

The Starliner subsequently undocked from the ISS without crew in early September. Williams and Wilmore will now return with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Grubonov who went to the station as part of the Crew-9 mission in September no earlier than March 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Boeing's Financials: For the full year 2024, Boeing reported revenue of $66.52 billion, 14% lower than in 2023. The company’s loss from operations ballooned from $773 million to $10.71 billion, after losses from both its commercial airplanes segment as well as its Defense, space, and security segment increased.

For the defense, space, and security segment alone, Boeing reported a loss from operation of $5.41 billion last year, as compared to $1.76 billion in 2023.

Price Action: Boeing stock closed down 1.7% on Friday at $176.52 and is down 2% in pre-market trading. The stock is down by 14.6% over the past year, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

While BA is publicly listed, its rival SpaceX is privately held. Investors, however, can leverage Destiny Tech100 Inc. DXYZ and Cathie Wood‘s Ark Venture Fund to participate in the Elon Musk-led space company’s growth.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read Next:

• Tesla Rival BYD Marks 47.5% Growth In January Passenger Vehicle Sales Driven By Popularity Of Plug-In Hybrid EVs

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock