NASA astronauts forced to cancel first launch with Boeing again

NASA and Boeing have had to once again cancel the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was set to take off from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida at 12:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, carrying NASA astronauts Barry “Batch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station, marking the spacecraft’s inaugural crewed test flight.

Unfortunately, the launch attempt was aborted with just minutes remaining in the countdown, adding to Boeing’s challenges after years of delays and cost overruns in its Starliner program.

The crewed test flight by Boeing was a crucial milestone to demonstrate the safe transportation of astronauts to the space station with Starliner. A successful mission could lead to Boeing being authorized by NASA to conduct regular flights to the space station, providing NASA with an alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Boeing’s previous launch on May 6 had also been halted with about two hours left in the countdown due to a valve issue on the spacecraft’s Atlas V rocket. Subsequently, a helium leak was found in Starliner’s propulsion system, causing further delays to the crucial test flight.

Although the rocket’s valve was replaced, the helium leak was determined not to pose a risk to the crew or spacecraft. It was not fixed before the scheduled flight on Saturday, as stated by mission controllers in a press conference the previous week.

Both SpaceX and Boeing were involved in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, launching new spacecraft to transport astronauts to low Earth orbit after the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet more than a decade ago.

However, Boeing has fallen significantly behind SpaceX, which has been conducting crewed missions to the space station for NASA since 2020.

The issue on Saturday was not the first challenge encountered by Starliner. During its initial uncrewed flight in 2019, software problems forced an early termination of the flight before attempting to dock with the space station. Subsequent attempts were delayed due to a fuel valve issue, with a successful uncrewed flight to the space station only achieved in 2022.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.