Boeings Starliner Today’s launch was postponed “out of an abundance of caution”, almost two hours before the historic launch. The snag is reportedly due to a problem with the oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the Atlas V rocket.
There are alternative start options on May 7th, 10th and 11th. After years of delays and cost overruns of more than $1 billion, the mission will be Boeing’s first attempt to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
Once the upper stage issue is resolved, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V will launch the CST-100 Starliner capsule along with the two astronauts on board – Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams – from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 10:34 p.m. local time Orbit transport Monday evening. The mission also marks the first time ULA’s Atlas will carry a crew. The rocket has a 100% success rate in 99 missions. (ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.)
The astronauts would now dock at the station on Thursday at the earliest and stay there for at least eight days. The two astronauts will return to Earth in the capsule on May 16 at the earliest.
If all goes according to plan, Boeing will finally be able to certify its Starliner for passenger transport and begin fulfilling the terms of its $4.2 billion NASA astronaut taxi contract. This contract, under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, was awarded in 2014. Elon Musk’s SpaceX also received a contract under this program for its Crew Dragon capsule and has been transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020.
While SpaceX has soared in its human transportation services, conducting over a dozen crewed missions and also launching private flights with Axiom Space and billionaire Jared Isaacman, Boeing has fallen sharply behind. The aerospace giant originally attempted an unmanned mission to the ISS in 2019, but it failed due to technical problems. Further problems delayed the next attempt until it finally took place in 2022.
As of last year, Boeing had incurred $1.5 billion in charges due to the long-delayed Starliner program.
But despite the technical problems, both NASA and Boeing have emphasized their commitment to the mission and the safety of the two astronauts.
“The lives of our crew members Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are at stake,” Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator, said at a news conference late last month. “We don’t take this lightly at all.”
In fact, a successful mission for NASA brings the agency one step closer to having two operational transportation providers, resulting in critical redundancy for the Commercial Crew program. According to Boeing’s contract, it is intended for six astronaut missions.
Musk used SpaceX was ready four years early.”