Let’s face it: when it comes to the new space race, there’s SpaceX hitting bullseye after bullseye – and then there’s Boeing’s Starliner program shooting blanks, diverging fortunes of the two aerospace giants just keep getting more stark.
While Elon Musk’s company has been chalking up major wins like ferrying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, Boeing has continued running into a costly string of setbacks and delays with its own crewed Starliner capsule. Struggles with trajectory control, stuck valves, helium leaks – you name it.
“There were a number of surprises along the way,” Boeing’s Mark Nappi acknowledged of the Starliner’s rocky road.
The biggest shocker? SpaceX’s stratospheric $200 billion private valuation – an absolutely bonkers figure that’s officially lapped Boeing’s market cap by around $50 billion. Not bad for a 20-year-old upstart taking on a 108-year aerospace titan.
Of course, Elon isn’t letting the achievement go to his head. “Falcon and Dragon are the best at what they do,” he boasted, doubling down on his team’s accomplishments. “But Starship is alien technology. Nothing like it has ever been attempted.”
He’s not wrong. While competitors are still trying to figure out how to safely get people into low-Earth orbit, SpaceX’s ambitions for its fully reusable Starship system are lightyears beyond, SpaceX releases rare look inside company meeting as Elon Musk previews major 2024 milestones. We’re talking single payloads rivaling the International Space Station’s pressurized volume, with cross-country flights being penciled in.
Is the private space industry’s center of gravity permanently shifting as legacy titans like Boeing lose their mojo? In aerospace now lies with the brash upstarts willing to embrace visions that seem practically alien to their prior ambitions. The new space race is leaving Earth – and Boeing – far behind.
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