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Boeing has announced that the debut crewed launch of its Starliner spacecraft will be delayed yet again, this time, seemingly an indefinite extension. The company has not offered a tentative date for the launch.
The company said that it is “standing down” from the launch due to a safety issue with the spacecraft’s parachute system. The crewed Starliner OFT-2 mission was earlier scheduled to launch in July after nearly two years of delays but it seems like that launch will not happen in July either.
“Boeing’s priority for Starliner’s Crew Flight Test is the safe launch, docking and return of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. For that reason, we have recommended to NASA that we reevaluate our launch window to allow for closing out the remaining technical and certification items,” said a press statement released by the company on June 1.
In 2014, NASA selected two companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to develop crew transport systems to carry astronauts into space. Elon Musk-led SpaceX completed its first crewed flight in 2020 and has carried nine more missions since then. On the other hand, Boeing has only completed two uncrewed test flights of Starliner.
Interestingly, Boeing was awarded a $4.2 billion contract by NASA in 2014, compared to the far lesser $2.6 billion received by SpaceX, as per a Washington Post report.
Even before these two new issues popped up, the chair of a NASA safety panel asked the space agency to not rush into a crewed test flight of STarliner and also called for an independent inquiry into the technical issues, according to SpaceNews.
The chair of a NASA safety panel urged the agency not to rush into a crewed test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner vehicle, calling for an independent “deep look” at technical issues with the spacecraft.
“Given the number of remaining challenges to certification of Starliner, we strongly encourage NASA to step back and take a measured look at the remaining body of work with respect to flying CFT,” said Patricia Sanders, chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, is quoted as saying in a meeting on May 25 by SpaceNews.
