The primary crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the Worldwide Area Station has once more been delayed, in line with NASA, with no new date instantly set.
“The subsequent doable launch alternative remains to be being mentioned,” the US space company mentioned in a press release Tuesday.
The postponement of the launch, which had been set for Saturday, marks the third delay this month for the extremely anticipated mission, which might enable NASA to certify a second industrial car to hold crews to the ISS, past Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Earlier this month, the Starliner launch was postponed simply hours earlier than liftoff, with the astronauts already strapped in, attributable to a separate technical difficulty.
Then final week, one other delay was introduced to permit groups to additional assess a helium leak linked to the service module, which sits on prime of the rocket.
“The workforce has been in conferences for 2 consecutive days, assessing flight rationale, system efficiency, and redundancy,” NASA mentioned Tuesday. “There may be nonetheless ahead work in these areas.”
The postponements come because the Starliner program faces years of delays and at a difficult time usually for Boeing, which is individually going through security questions round its industrial aviation arm.
NASA has used Musk’s SpaceX to ferry crews to the ISS since 2020, ending a virtually decade-long dependence on Russian rockets following the tip of the Area Shuttle program.
© 2024 AFP
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First crewed Boeing Starliner flight delayed once more (2024, Might 22)
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