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Boeing and SpaceX May Need to Wait Until 2019 to Transport Astronauts

  • Government Accountability Office warns of certification delays
  • Report recommends NASA have backup plan amid safety risks
Space X's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from space launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, before exploding, on June 28, 2015.

Space X's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from space launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, before exploding, on June 28, 2015.

Photographer: Bruce Weaver/AFP/Getty Images
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Boeing Co. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. won’t be certified this year to send astronauts to space and may be delayed into 2019 because of potential safety hazards, according to U.S. investigators.

Boeing parachute systems haven’t been adequately evaluated and SpaceX engine turbines have cracked during testing, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Thursday that outlines risks to the company programs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration agreed to renegotiate its contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to delay certification reviews that had been scheduled for this year, the GAO said.