The first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed to May 17 after engineers said a faulty valve on the rocket needed to be replaced for the high-risk mission, NASA said Tuesday.
The test has been delayed for several years and comes at a difficult time for Boeing, which is gripped by a safety crisis in the commercial aviation segment.
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The first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed to May 17 after engineers said a faulty valve on the rocket needed to be replaced for the high-risk mission, NASA said Tuesday.
The test has been delayed for several years and comes at a difficult time for Boeing, which is gripped by a safety crisis in the commercial aviation segment.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, were already in their seats preparing for takeoff when the cancellation occurred.
Crews on the ground heard the whirring sound of a valve that regulates the pressure of liquid oxygen on the Atlas V rocket designed to launch Starliner into orbit.
United Launch Alliance (ULA), the joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin responsible for the rocket, initially said the launch would be delayed until at least May 10.
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But further analysis showed that the valve was too worn and required replacement. The rocket will be sent back to the hangar for repairs.
Flight testing “is now scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:16 pm ET on Friday, May 17,” NASA said in a blog post.
He added that Wilmore and Williams will remain in quarantine at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
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The US space agency is confident in the success of Starliner and hopes to receive a second commercial ship to transport crews to the ISS.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX already achieved this feat with its Dragon capsule in 2020, ending nearly a decade of dependence on Russian rockets after the end of the space shuttle program.
IA/ST/AG/ATM