Boeing is facing harsh criticism over its new Starliner spacecraft, but is it warranted?

On June 5, a rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., into a blue sky dotted with puffy, white clouds. At the top of the rocket, made by United Launch Alliance, sat Boeing's new Starliner CST-100, a gumdrop-shaped capsule carrying astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. 

It was a picture-perfect launch of a test mission that was a long time coming. 

After years of delays, setbacks and deep cost overruns, the launch was to be Boeing's shining moment when it finally joined SpaceX as a commercial company launching astronauts from American soil.

Except, it didn't quite go as expected, with a helium leak neither Boeing nor NASA quite understood ahead of the launch. Yet they launched nonetheless.

And then it only got worse: More helium leaks were discovered once the astronauts were in orbit. Then, as they were preparing to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) the next day, several thrusters abruptly shut down. After an hour's delay, the spacecraft finally docked.

To be fair, it is a test mission. But it's a mission that seems to be fraught with problems and unknowns, leaving many asking why the launch even went ahead with a known issue that was poorly understood, and if the spacecraft is safe enough to bring them home.

It also brings into question Starliner's first operational mission, slated for 2025 with Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk on board.

To date, the astronauts are still on board the ISS while Boeing tests its thrusters at its facility in White Sands, N.M. No return date has been set, though it will likely be at the end of July, according to a news conference on Wednesday.

Optically, it's been a nightmare for Boeing, a company that, in recent years, has faced a barrage of safety mishaps with its commercial aircraft and is deeply in need of a public relations win, especially in light of the fact that SpaceX started launching astronauts aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2020 and to date has sent 11 operational flights to the ISS.

When NASA awarded Boeing and SpaceX the contracts to take astronauts to the ISS, they didn't receive the same compensation: Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion US, while SpaceX received $2.6 billion US.

At the time, it was widely believed that Boeing — having been in the space game since the 1960s — would get to the ISS first. How wrong they were. 

But is it fair to compare Boeing and SpaceX?

Dan Dumbacher, an engineer and former NASA official who is now the CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, says it's not.

He notes that Boeing, as an organization, has experience in spaceflight that predates the Apollo program of the 1960s.