Boeing also is weighing battery redesigns and a plan to add shielding in case one overheats, Stich said. SpaceX, which has already flown seven crewed missions for NASA since 2020, redesigned its spacecraft's batteries at one point, he said.
"Of course, they have the luxury of having a lot of battery expertise at Tesla(TSLA.O)," Stich said, referring to the electric carmaker Musk leads.
Boeing in a statement said on Wednesday it has had no issues with Starliner's batteries during tests.
"Boeing has conducted more than a dozen Starliner battery thermal runaway tests, stressing the battery cells beyond their intended limit. No issue has surfaced," the company said.
Stich acknowledged there had been "a little disagreement" during the meetings over how a potential failure of one of the battery's cells could spread to other cells. He said there have been no test failures, but added sometimes a cell got "a little out of balance" during past tests.
The Starliner battery concerns and expected upgrades, which had not been previously reported, would add to a growing to-do list of tests and redesigns Boeing has faced before it embarks on the long-awaited operational phase of its NASA contract: six astronaut missions over the next few years.
NASA has overseen Starliner's development under a $4.5 billion contract awarded in 2014. Some 80 software failures cut short an initial, uncrewed Starliner test flight in 2019. The capsule made a successful repeat of that mission in 2022.
Boeing also plans to redesign a system that separates Starliner's main crew module from its service module, a trunk section containing thrusters that is ditched before the spacecraft returns to Earth, Stich said.
Federal procurement data shows NASA has agreed to pay Boeing at least $24.8 million for the upgrade of that system.
Boeing last year also opted to redesign valves on Starliner's propulsion system to prevent them from sticking shut prior to launch, which caused a lengthy delay in 2021.
NASA and Boeing's aim to have the valves redesigned for future missions initiated a dispute with Boeing's propulsion system supplier. Aerojet Rocketdyne(AJRD.N) blamed Boeing for the problems, refusing to pay for the redesign, Reuters reported last year.
Boeing has now cut Aerojet from the redesign process and is working directly with Aerojet's valve supplier, New Jersey-based company Marotta, said a person involved in the process who asked not to be identified.
Aerojet and Marotta declined to comment. Boeing said, "we are working with Marotta on a valve redesign."
REUTERS
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