Virgin Galactic Countersues Boeing For "shoddy" Work On New Mothership
Virgin Galactic is embroiled in a spacefaring spat with aerospace giant Boeing. In a countersuit filed last week, Virgin Galactic accuses Boeing of "shoddy and incomplete work" on their next-generation mothership, the carrier aircraft designed to ferry Virgin's spaceplane to launch altitude.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, comes after Boeing sued Virgin Galactic in March for allegedly withholding proprietary information and refusing to pay over $25 million for work on the mothership [1].
Virgin Galactic strongly refutes these claims. Their countersuit argues that Boeing failed to deliver on its contractual obligations, specifically citing "shoddy and incomplete work" during the initial phases of the project. According to Virgin, Boeing provided substandard deliverables during key reviews, failing to meet the necessary quality standards [2].
"The quality of the IBR Boeing conducted was so poor that Virgin Galactic and Boeing agreed that Boeing was required to redo the review," reads the complaint, referring to an Integrated Baseline Review, a crucial project milestone [2]. Virgin Galactic further claims the second attempt was even worse, lacking essential elements and hindering progress [2].
Virgin Galactic is seeking unspecified damages exceeding the $45 million they have already paid to Boeing for the project. They argue this amount is significantly more than the value of the work Boeing has actually completed [2].
This countersuit intensifies a growing rift between the two companies. Virgin Galactic completed its first successful commercial space tourism flight last year using their existing mothership, VMS Eve. The new mothership, a central part of their expansion plans, appears to be facing delays due to the disagreements with Boeing.
Neither Virgin Galactic nor Boeing have commented publicly on the specifics of the countersuit. However, the legal battle casts a shadow over their collaboration and raises questions about the future of the new mothership project.
