BOEING’S $1.5billion Starliner is finally expected to launch this week just days after its most recent mission was aborted at the last minute.
The inaugural flight to the International Space Station (ISS) was abruptly halted on Saturday (June 1) despite having its two astronauts ready to go and strapped into their seats.
It represented the fourth time in as many weeks that the CST-200 Starliner’s voyage into orbit had been delayed, with a “tech issue” cited as the latest reason.
An automatic hold triggered by the computer that launches the rocket stopped Saturday’s countdown clock, say reports, with just three minutes and 50 seconds until take off.
Two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 58, were said to have been strapped into the capsule awaiting liftoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
But following the latest disaster, Boeing and NASA have now targeted Wednesday, June 5, as their new launch date, according to reports.
NASA said on Sunday that its teams worked overnight to replace the faulty ground power unit with a spare chassis, which provides power to a subset of computer cards controlling various system functions.
The space agency had previously earmarked Wednesday and Thursday as backup opportunities in case of any further delays to the June 1 launch date.
The aircraft’s launch to the ISS was originally set for May 6 but lift off was scrapped just two hours prior to take-off after a strange buzzing sound was discovered coming from an oxygen valve.
The rearranged launch date of May 17 was then pushed back to May 25 after teams detected a small helium leak in Starliner’s service module.
Following a period of silence after the incident, however, a NASA spokesperson soon confirmed that May 25 was also off the table as officials deepened their review into the leak.
In a blog post on May 22, NASA announced that it was looking at the start of June for its next attempt.
It was stated that June 1 would be the earliest that the Crew Flight Test of Starliner could begin.
Almost one month after it was supposed to launch, the $1.5bn (£1.1bn) Starliner looks set to complete its mission.
The capsule will go through a 26-hour flight before docking at the ISS at around 250 miles above Earth.
The two astronauts will stay at the space station before coming back to Earth in the Starliner using a parachute and airbag-assisted landing platform.
Astronauts Williams and Wilmore remain in quarantine in Houston, Texas, where they have spent the additional weeks conducting further simulator training to prepare for the mission.
Commander Wilmore is a retired Navy captain who’s clocked some 178 days in space during his life already.
Fellow pilot Williams, a former Naval test pilot, also has experience flying over 30 different aircraft.
She has spent a whopping 322 days in space in her two missions since her first flight in 2007.
The pair were due to spend around a week in the ISS.
Following the most recent postponement, which was announced during a live NASA webcast, left the capsule and returned to the headquarters to get some clarity on the blunder.
Williams has previously labelled spaceflight “complicated”.
She recently said: “Every step of the way, we’re realising this makes us rethink how we do business.
“We have a capable spacecraft and we have people that can find solutions. We expect to find things that will help us make the spacecraft safer to fly.
“These launch dates are not magical. They are an opportunity to do our job. There will be more issues, and we’ll be ready to handle them.”
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was chosen by NASA alongside SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station in 2014.
Failure to launch the $1.5bn (£1.1bn) spacecraft would be a symbolic make-or-break moment for one of the world’s biggest aerospace manufacturers.
Starliner was created in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme, which is aimed at making space flights commercially available.
The goal is to be able to frequently ferry people and cargo back and forth from Earth.
Boeing is hopeful the spacecraft can eventually transport humans to Mars if it ever gets off the ground.
Timeline of Boeing’s recent safety failures
A string of serious malfunctions in Boeing’s planes have marred the aerospace giant’s reputation in recent months.
5 January – An Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was forced to make an emergency landing after a window was ripped out mid-flight.
24 January – A Delta flight at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport lost its front tyre during takeoff.
23 February – Three passengers from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 filed another lawsuit against the airline and Boeing, seeking $1billion in damages.
28 February – US watchdog the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) tells Boeing it must submit a plan to fix “systemic quality-control issues” after independent review flags safety concerns.
Boeing said it was “totally committed to meeting this challenge”.
13 March – A Boeing 777 is spotted leaking hydraulic fluid during the takeoff for a United Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia to San Francisco, California.
19 March – The windscreen on a Boeing 737 cracks as an Alaskan Airlines flight makes its landing.
19 May – Safety fears sparked again as The Sun reveals metal panel belonging to a Boeing 737 was found in a field near East Midlands Airport, UK.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
