Boeing Starliner's debut crewed flight delayed again to check helium
leak
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[May 18, 2024]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA and Boeing delayed the launch of
Boeing's Starliner crew capsule again on Friday, giving them four more
days to assess a helium leak before attempting to launch the
spacecraft's first two astronauts into space, the space agency said
Friday.
Starliner's liftoff from Florida has been delayed several times in May
and it was last scheduled for May 21. |
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands on the pad after the
launch of two astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT)
was delayed for technical issues prior to a mission to the International
Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Joe
Skipper/File Photo |
|
Aside from the helium leak, a technical issue with its Atlas 5
rocket had prompted an earlier delay. The program is several
years behind schedule and more than $1.5 billion over budget.
The latest postponement will give more time "to finalize next
steps that address a stable helium leak", NASA said. The launch
is now targeted for no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT (1909 GMT) on
Saturday, May 25.
Boeing has been developing Starliner for more than a decade to
provide NASA with a second U.S. spacecraft capable of ferrying
astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX's
Crew Dragon capsule, built under the same NASA program, first
launched astronauts to space in 2020.
Starliner's latest mission, called the Crewed Flight Test, is
due to be the final test before the spacecraft is certified by
the U.S. space agency to fly routine astronaut missions to the
ISS. Boeing completed an uncrewed Starliner trip to the ISS in
2022 following years of technical and management issues.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette, Editing by Franklin Paul and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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