A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was delivered to the launch pad Thursday ahead of NASA’s Boeing crewed flight test.
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The launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule was canceled on Saturday, just minutes before it was scheduled to lift off.
with 3:50 With the countdown remaining, the Rockets’ computer initiated a timeout. NASA said the next launch attempt won’t happen until at least Wednesday.
Tory Bruno, head of United Launch Alliance, the government contractor trying to launch Starliner, said a problem with one of three redundant computer systems at the base of the pad responsible for initiating the launch sequence caused the launch to automatically stop.
“We do require all three systems to be running – triple redundancy,” Bruno, ULA president and CEO, said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “Those three large computers are doing health checks. … There are two Appeared normally. The third one appeared, but it appeared very slowly, so it hit the red line, causing an automatic pause.
NASA said in an update Saturday evening that ULA engineers did not know why the computer stopped functioning and would be working overnight to troubleshoot ground support equipment.
NASA had originally planned to reschedule the planned launch for a day later, but said it would abandon Sunday’s launch attempt “to give the team more time to assess ground support equipment issues.”
The next launch attempt opportunities are on Wednesday and Thursday.
The space agency said it would provide an update on next steps on Sunday.
The capsule was scheduled to carry two NASA astronauts on a 25-hour flight from the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the International Space Station. The planned mission is the first time a commercially built space capsule will carry humans.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams plan to take Starliner on its first flight to test the spacecraft before NASA launches the mission. After the space shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA partnered with two commercial companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Saturday’s scrubbing comes about a month after Starliner was originally scheduled to fly to the International Space Station, a launch that’s already several years behind schedule.
Earlier, NASA announced that astronauts’ luggage had been left behind on Earth, something many air travelers on Earth are familiar with. The missing luggage was not Boeing’s fault. Earlier this week, the International Space Station’s urine recycling system failed, forcing NASA to make room for a new pump.
“We ended up pulling out two astronaut suitcases with clothes in them,” Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station program manager, said at a news conference Friday.
Weigel said the space station has spare clothing and hygiene products for astronauts to use during their stay.
Below is additional information about the now-cleaned release.
This should be the first manned flight of Starliner
In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to build Starliner as a means of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station on routine missions.
Since then, the Starliner program has fallen far behind schedule and over budget. Boeing estimates the program has cost the company more than $1 billion.
When NASA awarded the Boeing contract, it also provided $2.6 billion to SpaceX to develop the Dragon capsule. The spacecraft conducted a manned test flight in 2020 and now regularly transports astronauts to the International Space Station.
Starliner has been plagued by technical issues
Saturday’s launch delay isn’t the first delay to the Starliner program.
Starliner failed to reach the International Space Station on its first mission in 2019. Although some thrusters failed to work as planned, the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station during its second test flight in 2022.
Last year, Boeing delayed Starliner’s first crewed flight after company officials realized that the tape used on hundreds of yards of electrical wiring could be flammable and that the wires connecting the capsule’s three parachutes appeared to be weaker than expected.
The May 6 launch attempt was canceled due to a stuck valve on the rocket that launched the Starliner. The valve has since been replaced, but engineers also discovered a small helium leak in one of the Starliner’s thrusters.
The leak could be caused by a bad seal, but engineers aren’t entirely sure. Still, after weeks of extensive analysis, they said Starliner could fly safely even with the leak.
The future of interstellar airliners
If Starliner is eventually successfully launched, it would pave the way for more Starliner flights, which would give NASA two independent private spacecrafts that can transport astronauts to the space station.
During their mission, Wilmore and Williams plan to test Starliner’s critical systems, including life support and communications, while it docks with the space station. While the spacecraft can essentially fly on its own, the pair will test the spacecraft’s manual controls as it approaches the orbiting outpost.
The crew had planned to stay at the space station for about a week and planned to land under parachutes in Wilcox, Arizona, as early as June 10, concluding the 10-day mission. Teams from NASA and Boeing will comb through data from the flight before verifying the vehicle’s mission. NASA hopes to split astronaut flights between Boeing and SpaceX, with a trip to the International Space Station about every six months.
NPR’s Joe Hernandez and Emma Bowman contributed to this report.
