NASA is set to launch a safety review of SpaceX and Boeing as part of its billion-dollar contracts with the companies to eventually fly astronauts to the International Space Station.
The reviews, slated to start in 2019, will examine “everything and anything that could impact safety,” William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration, told The Washington Post.
In a statement, NASA said it will be “conducting a cultural assessment study in coordination with our commercial partners to ensure the companies are meeting NASA’s requirements for workplace safety,” including a drug-free environment.
“We fully expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of our missions and the services they provide the American people,” the agency said.
The review comes months after SpaceX founder Elon Musk smoked marijuana during a podcast with comedian Joe Rogan, behavior that prompted one former federal official to urge the Department of Justice to launch its own review into the firm. Boeing, meanwhile, faces intensifying pressure over whether it withheld safety information in advance of a Lion Air crash that killed 189 passengers, a claim the Chicago-based aerospace giant denies.
SpaceX is hoping to launch its spacecraft with astronauts aboard by June, while Boeing is aiming for a launch with human passengers in August. A safety panel earlier this year concluded that the current flight schedules “have considerable risk and do not appear achievable given the number of technical issues yet to be resolved.”
Boeing’s culture “ensures the integrity, safety and quality of our products, our people and their work environment,” a spokesman said.
“As NASA’s trusted partner since the beginning of human spaceflight, we share the same values and are committed to continuing our legacy of trust, openness and mission success,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement.
A SpaceX spokesperson called human spaceflight “the core mission of our company.”
“There is nothing more important to SpaceX than this endeavor, and we take seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted in us,” the spokesperson said. “We are confident that our comprehensive drug-free workforce and workplace programs exceed all applicable contractual requirements.”
