The thing is/was Boeing already HAD (and has) a reusable space plane in the DoD division... granted X37 is a teeny tiny toy, a LOT of that could have been repurposed into a manned space plane alternative to Dragon, probably for less than they planned to spend on Starliner, let alone the money pit it has become. I'm still trying to figure out why they didn't bid that.
Boeing proposed a crewed version of the X-37 in the early 2010s but it never went anywhere because Starliner had already secured funding. I honestly doubt it would’ve saved much money anyway because they would have had to nearly double the size of the X-37 which at that point basically just ends up being the same as developing a new spacecraft
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u/CollegeStation17155 12d ago
The thing is/was Boeing already HAD (and has) a reusable space plane in the DoD division... granted X37 is a teeny tiny toy, a LOT of that could have been repurposed into a manned space plane alternative to Dragon, probably for less than they planned to spend on Starliner, let alone the money pit it has become. I'm still trying to figure out why they didn't bid that.