“Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods,” Boeing wrote in the filing.
In 2014, NASA picked Boeing and SpaceX to develop and certify two commercial crew transporter vehicles. Like SpaceX, Boeing’s contract, now worth up to $4.6 billion, is structured as a fixed-price deal, meaning the contractor is on the hook to pay for cost overruns that go over NASA’s financial commitment.
That’s exactly what happened.
The most recent financial loss comes as Boeing reels from a disappointing test flight of the Starliner spacecraft last year. Boeing and NASA expected the test flight would set the stage for the spacecraft’s final certification to begin operational crew rotation flights to and from the International Space Station.