How much more expensive was Boeing’s Starliner seat estimated to be than SpaceX’s Crew Dragon initially?
Answer
Roughly 60% more expensive per seat
The OIG estimated the cost for a seat on Boeing’s Starliner at about $90 million. Comparing this to SpaceX’s initial $55 million estimate shows that Boeing’s vehicle was projected to be roughly 60% more expensive per seat, despite both spacecraft having the capability to transport up to seven astronauts. Boeing attributed part of this disparity to developing Starliner entirely from scratch, unlike SpaceX which leveraged the existing Cargo Dragon platform.
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