Boeing and NASA again postponed the launch of the Starliner spacecraft’s first crewed mission on Tuesday to give engineers more time to evaluate a small helium leak in the propulsion system.
In a short statement, NASA said that for two consecutive days the team has been evaluating the system’s performance and “the next possible launch opportunity is still being discussed.” The date of the next attempt has not been announced.
The CFT (Crew Flight Test) mission was scheduled to take off on Saturday, May 25, from a launch complex at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida (USA), with NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board.
With what was announced this Tuesday, it is the fifth postponement of this mission since on May 6 it was preparing to rise towards the ISS. On that occasion, takeoff was suspended after an anomaly was discovered in a liquid oxygen tank of the Atlas V booster rocket, from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) firm.
According to NASA, pressure tests on the Starliner’s helium system carried out last Wednesday showed that “the leak in the flange is stable and would not represent a risk at that level during the flight,” although technicians want to continue doing so. tests to ensure ship performance.
The Starliner’s objective is to remain on the ISS for about a week before returning, with a planned landing in the southwestern United States and with the support of a parachute system.
The success of the mission will allow Boeing to obtain the necessary certifications to operate as a second provider of cargo and crew transportation services to the ISS, as SpaceX already does as a result of million-dollar contracts that both private firms have signed with NASA.
