WSJ What’s News - NASA Says It Could Tap SpaceX to Complete Starliner Mission

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

A.M. Edition for August 8. NASA confirms it’s considering using Elon Musk’s space company to bring two astronauts back from the International Space Station. The WSJ’s Micah Maidenberg says that would be a tough blow for Boeing, whose Starliner craft has run into issues. Plus, three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna are canceled after an alleged terrorist plot. And, energy and AI investments power Europe’s venture sector. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead, you can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. at IKEA today. Austria arrests the alleged plotters of a terror attack targeting Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna. Plus, NASA considers turning to SpaceX

to help bring home a pair of astronauts who flew to orbit on Boeing's Starliner. It would be tough for Boeing if SpaceX got tapped to handle an operation that it has been preparing for for years and investing significant amounts of money into showing that it can pull off. And Europe's push to reduce its energy dependence on Russia powers up the continent's venture scene. It's Thursday, August 8th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Austrian authorities have arrested two people that officials say were planning a terrorist attack on a Vienna stadium scheduled to host several Taylor Swift concerts beginning today. All three concerts have now been cancelled. Our Bojan Panchewski in Berlin has the latest. The two suspects are both teenagers. The main suspect is 19 years old. He is the one who has sworn allegiance to the leader of ISIS over the internet and that was picked up by an American intelligence service

that then passed on the evidence to the Austrian military intelligence which then alerted all the authorities. It would appear that they were indeed targeting the stadium. The main suspect had brought home chemicals from his old employer. There is a suspicion that he was trying to build a makeshift bomb. The Austrian authorities told me that they did not advise the cancellation of the concerts because they think they arrested the cell now, but the organizer didn't want to take any risks. The foiled attack had echoes of the 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England that killed 22 people and for which Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Russia's Kursk region which borders Ukraine remains on a state of alert today after Ukrainian troops launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory this week. According to Russian war bloggers close to the Russian military, Ukraine has seized several villages with the attack displaying more sophistication than previous cross-border raids. Though journal reporter James Marson said Kyiv's long-term strategy remains unclear. James Marson, Journalist, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The

New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New Ukrainian front lines in the east of the country are under tremendous pressure. Ukraine there is outnumbered, outgunned. So some of the thinking is that potentially the Ukrainians are trying to ease pressure on that front line by attacking elsewhere and drawing in Russian troops. Maybe they're looking to cut off Russian supply lines. There are various different possibilities. But one thing is clear is that Ukraine doesn't really have the resources to open a second

front. They don't have the men, they don't have the equipment available to go and expand this into a huge second front. So they're now facing a dilemma. They've seized villages, they've pushed into Russian territory, they either have to reinforce and try to go further, or they're going to come under tremendous pressure from the Russians who are determined to push them out. When astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams blasted off aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5th for the International Space Station, the plan was

for them to return the following week. But more than two months later, they remain in orbit amid lingering questions about whether equipment failures on Starliner have been fully resolved, a situation that Journal Space reporter Micah Maidenberg says is sparking increasing debate about how and when they'll get home. Micah, I remember a piece you wrote in mid-June when this mission looked like it might involve the astronauts spending 20 days on the ISS instead of the scheduled eight, and NASA officials said then, you know, don't worry, Starliner can stick around up there for up to 45 days

if it has to. We are past 60 days now. What is going on here? What is the nature of the safety discussions taking place? Well, Starliner, as it was docking with the station a couple months ago, had the temporary failure of several thrusters that helped maneuver and position the spacecraft in orbit. There also were an unexpected number of helium leaks that emerged. Helium is not a fuel used by Starliner, but is used for pressurizing its propulsion system.

And engineers and technicians have been studying these problems for weeks and weeks. Boeing has said we think Starliner is safe enough, given the risks that have been identified, to take two astronauts back to ground. The issue is that not everybody at NASA agrees. So where does that leave us then? So the main alternative for NASA right now is calling on SpaceX to bring Wilmore and Williams back. No decisions have been made, but it's under real discussion and there's been a lot of work done at NASA and at SpaceX to prepare for this contingency.

Williams and Wilmore would, under that scenario, come back to Earth early next year targeted return of February 2025. If that is the case, obviously that is much longer than what NASA and Boeing had hoped for just a few months ago. Nat Senn And Mike, just to back up, there is a lot riding on this for Boeing, it should go without saying, right? This company whose ambitions in space have hit repeated roadblocks. Is there a sense that to let SpaceX essentially bail it out of this jam that it's in here

would cause long-term damage to its reputation? Yes, it would be tough for Boeing if SpaceX got tapped to handle an operation that it has been preparing for years and investing significant amounts of money into showing that it can pull off. If Williams and Wilmore end up going home with SpaceX, Starliner leaves the station uncrewed and the mission misses really important objectives. What that means for the future of the Starliner program, especially at a time of real transition at Boeing,

a new CEO is taking over the company after a lot of concerns about its commercial aviation side, some of its defense programs, Starliner 2. What it means for Starliner is still unknown. For SpaceX, the fact that SpaceX has even been considered this deeply is a bit of an indicator of how important the company is for NASA. SpaceX is a very technically sophisticated company that right now, because the Starliner mission is still ongoing, is the only US company that is able to do a full mission of carrying astronauts to low-earth orbit and bringing them back home safely. Boeing still might do that, but this mission, a test mission,

to be sure, has taken a few turns that were very much unexpected. And at the very least, as you said earlier, the point of this mission was to prove out that Starliner was ready for regular flights. That timeline, it would seem, is bound to get delayed. And then what about for the agency, for NASA, is there any talk of revisiting the strategy that if I understand correctly, had sort of been to spread contracts across different companies to try to increase competition? Might that be revisited?

NASA has a lot riding on Starliner. The agency wants to have two different American companies that are able to do crew rotations at the space station. The reason they want that is pretty simple. If one goes down, if something happens, you still have access to space. So NASA hasn't announced any policy changes to that, but that's what they want. All right. Sounds like NASA may have to consider some tough questions if Boeing can't pull

this off. Micah Maidenberg, cover space for the Wall Street Journal. Micah, thank you so much. Yeah, thanks, Luke. Coming up, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has given Europe's venture sector a boost. We've got that story and more after the break. Introducing TD Insurance for Business with customized coverage options for your business. Because at TD Insurance, we understand that your with customized coverage options for your business. Because at TD Insurance, we understand that your business is unique, so your business insurance should be too. Whether you're a shop owner, a pet groomer, a contractor, or a consultant, you can get

customized coverage for your business. Contact a licensed TD Insurance advisor to learn more. Venture capital seems to be enjoying a bit of a renaissance. Last weekend, Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital told investors it had raised $5 billion for its largest ever pair of funds and a sign the AI boom is encouraging some investors to go big again. And over in Europe, the venture sector is heating up as well. According to analytics firm Dealroom.co, European startups raised more than $15 billion in the

second quarter, a 14% jump from the previous quarter, and a stronger increase than was seen among North American and Asian startups. Journal venture capital reporter Mark Vardabedian says while AI is a big part of the story, it's energy startups that are driving the largest amount of venture funding in the region. And a big part of what's driving the focus on energy in Europe is geopolitical tensions, specifically Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That's really spurred European governments that have historically been dependent on Russian fossil fuels to try and develop greater energy security.

And that trickled down to startups in the form of grants and other government-backed investment opportunities. Some investors are really focused on Europe because they say they can scoop up shares of startups for less money compared with the prices that their counterparts in the US command. That's really true for AI where startups, particularly in Silicon Valley, have seen valuations rise quite rapidly over the past couple years. And in other markets news today, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery have taken a tumble in off-hours trading after the company reported a nearly $10 billion loss for the second quarter.

That's mostly due to a write-down of the value of its cable TV networks, which include CNN, TNT, and TBS, and which have been hit by a weak ad market and customers cancelling subscriptions in favor of streaming platforms. Shares of trading platform Robinhood edged up in off-hours trading after the company's latest revenue and profit figures topped Wall Street expectations. That's thanks in part to wild trading in shares of companies like GameStop that we saw during the second quarter. And after last week's jobs report sparked concerns of a slowing US economy, investors

will be on the lookout for the latest weekly jobless claims figures for any further clues on the state of the labor market. That release is due out at 8.30am eastern. And speaking of economic data, headline inflation may be coming down, but the situation in the real economy can feel a lot different. What's your view? From housing to food, healthcare to utilities, what costs that are a big part of your budget are still going up, which aren't, and overall how confident are you your situation is going

to get better? To weigh in, send a voice memo to wnpod at wsj.com or leave a voicemail with your name and location at 212-416-4328 and we just might use it on the show. And that's it for What's News for Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca, and I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show, and until then, thanks for listening.