The difference in spaceflight visuals belies an ethos behind SpaceX versus Boeing: SpaceX is selling the future, while Boeing's fulfilling an agreement.
While this article does a decent job explaining the differences, it again avoids pointing out the real apples to oranges here. The two programs are nothing alike.
Starliner is akin to Crew Dragon. These were part of the same batch of contracts from NASA for a crew capsule that could reach the ISS and deliver payloads. Boeing was given nearly double the budget to make it happen compared to SpaceX ($4.2B vs $2.6B). Starliner is 8 years behind schedule and barely making their first crewed rendezvous now, while being over budget, meanwhile Crew Dragon has already made 13 crewed launches since 2020. It’s been past the testing and development phase and into regular operation for a while now.
That’s the comparison that these articles should be making. Starship is an entirely different beast, with completely different goals. Starship is designed to go to Mars, not just Low Earth Orbit. The only reason they are being talked about together is because they are both being tested around the same time. SpaceX fulfilled their similar contract and has moved onto the next big thing after making it Crew Dragon a stable launch design, while Boeing is still working on replicating the capabilities of the Apollo capsule, just modern.
While this article does a decent job explaining the differences, it again avoids pointing out the real apples to oranges here. The two programs are nothing alike.
Starliner is akin to Crew Dragon. These were part of the same batch of contracts from NASA for a crew capsule that could reach the ISS and deliver payloads. Boeing was given nearly double the budget to make it happen compared to SpaceX ($4.2B vs $2.6B). Starliner is 8 years behind schedule and barely making their first crewed rendezvous now, while being over budget, meanwhile Crew Dragon has already made 13 crewed launches since 2020. It’s been past the testing and development phase and into regular operation for a while now.
That’s the comparison that these articles should be making. Starship is an entirely different beast, with completely different goals. Starship is designed to go to Mars, not just Low Earth Orbit. The only reason they are being talked about together is because they are both being tested around the same time. SpaceX fulfilled their similar contract and has moved onto the next big thing after making it Crew Dragon a stable launch design, while Boeing is still working on replicating the capabilities of the Apollo capsule, just modern.
This kind of comparison goes beyond Starliner. New Glenn, Neutron, Ariane V, and Vulcan are competing for 2nd place with Falcon, not Starship.
Stoke is one of the few companies that I think of as an actual Starship competitor.