Boeing’s effort to send an astronaut-crewed space capsule into orbit for the first time has been postponed just before takeoff on Saturday, due to an unknown technical issue.
Boeing formed United Launch Alliance together with Lockheed Martin, and this joint venture manufactured the Atlas V rocket that aims to send the spacecraft into orbit to the International Space Station, while carrying two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 58.
The liftoff at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida was cancelled about four minutes before its scheduled time at noon, due to issues related computers on the Atlas V rocket’s launchpad that coordinate the final moments before liftoff. The Starliner capsule appeared healthy, officials said.
With three minutes and 50 seconds left in the countdown clock after the final “go” for launch was given by the flight director, a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that shut down the launch sequence, according to mission officials.
“We got really close today,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program. “I know it’s a little disappointing, we were all excited. This is kind of the way spaceflight is,” he added.
ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno said the leading causes would be “either a hardware problem or a network communication” issue between three computers that control automated launch systems.
The next launch may happen on Wednesday or Thursday, June 5 or 6. The decision to forgo the launch opportunity on Sunday is to “give the team additional time” to assess the issue, NASA’s statement said.
This is the second time a liftoff is postponed for the CST-200 Starliner—a May 6 countdown was halted just two hours before launch time over a faulty pressure valve on the Atlas V upper stage, followed by weeks of further delays caused by other engineering problems, since resolved, on the Starliner itself.
Boeing had started trying to send an uncrewed Starliner to the space station in 2019. Its first attempt failed due to software and engineering issues, but a second try in 2022 was successful, leading to the current efforts to launch its first astronaut-crewed flight into space.
On Saturday, the two astronauts were strapped to their seats for a couple of hours before the launch was suspended. After the flight was scrubbed, technicians helped them out of the capsule and away from the launch tower, returning them to their quarters under quarantine to wait for the next launch attempt.
It is not uncommon in the space industry for countdowns to be halted so close to takeoff and for launches to be postponed for days or weeks, even when seemingly minor malfunctions or unusual sensor readings are detected, especially in new manned spacecraft.
Boeing’s Starliner venture program is several years behind schedule with more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns.
While Boeing has struggled, SpaceX has developed a good business relationship with NASA, providing the only means of launching the International Space Station crew to orbit from U.S. soil.
Once launched, the Starliner would be expected to arrive at the space station after a flight of about 24 hours, and dock with the orbiting research outpost some 250 miles above Earth.
Plans call for the two astronauts to remain at the space station for about a week before riding the Starliner back to Earth for a parachute- and airbag-assisted landing in the U.S. Desert Southwest, a first for crewed NASA missions.
Reuters contributed to this report.
