Is Boeing About to Sell Off its Troubled Space Business?

As Boeing’s problems continue to mount, reports suggest that the US aerospace giant is considering selling off its troubled space division.

Kelly Ortberg, who took over as Boeing CEO in August, is considering selling off the company’s space division as part of an attempt to turn things around, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The plans, which are reportedly at an early stage, could involve Boeing offloading the Starliner spacecraft and its projects supporting the International Space Station.

Recall that, recently, Boeing’s Starliner developed technical issues in the International Space Station, leaving two astronauts stranded at the ISS since June. NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore left Earth on June 5 onboard the Starliner and were supposed to return after only about one week. However, the capsule developed thruster issues on the first leg of the journey.

The Starliner finally returned to Earth on September 7, 2024 without the astronauts after NASA decided to return Williams and Wilmore home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in February 2025. This development brought Boeing global embarrassment and huge loss. Till date, Boeing has repeatedly recorded losses of about $1.85 billion on the Starliner project.

Just this week, a Boeing-made satellite for Intelsat stopped working and fell apart suddenly after suffering an “anomaly.” The satellite's operator, Intelsat, confirmed the "total loss" of iS-33e, which has affected customers in Europe, Africa and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

“We’re better off doing less and doing it better than doing more and not doing it well,” Ortberg said during an earnings call this week. “Clearly, our core of commercial airplanes and defense systems are going to stay with the Boeing Company for the long run. But there’s probably some things on the fringe there that we can be more efficient with or that distract us from our main goal here.”

In its commercial airplanes and defense divisions, Boeing is currently facing problems after problems. Just last week, supply chain issues and workers strike forced the plane maker to delay, again, the entry into service of the 777-9 to 2026 as well as axe the Boeing 767 program earlier than planned.

Do you think Boeing should/will sell off its space business and focus on commercial airplanes and defense systems?