I’ll leave this Screenshot of an exchange I had a few weeks ago. A couple of replies were giving a soft defense of Boeing:

At least the front didn’t fall off.

At some point, really hoping the US government just disqualifies Boeing as a potential supplier. I was ready to celebrate that Boeing finally managed to not fuck something up, but alas, my hopes were somehow too high. Good luck to the astronauts on re-entry.

Only a matter of time for another Challenger incident to set space exploration back another 20 years.

I think most in society get that human space exploration is extremely risky, but to flirt with that risk with a known variable tipping the scales the wrong way seems like a business decision rather than an engineering one.

Particularly embarrassing considering the incredible progress SpaceX is making, including today’s launch and successful splashdown of both starship and the booster. The entry was wild, too - one of the fins burned halfway off, but the damn thing still worked fine lol