After years of delays, Boeing's Starliner capsule was due to take off early this month with two astronauts on board – and now the flight to the International Space Station has been suspended indefinitely after a series of setbacks.
The original May 6 launch was scuttled hours before takeoff due to a faulty rocket flap. It was moved first to May 10 and then a second time to Friday, when it was decided to replace the valve on the Atlas V rocket.
All systems seemed to be working until yet another problem arose, this time with the capsule. a helium leak was detected from the spacecraft's propulsion system.
After two more delays, officials from NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance, the rocket maker, said late Tuesday that the flight would be postponed indefinitely — a series of events that Boeing did not need.
“It's shameful that Boeing was about to launch this mission, and now we're even out of time for when they plan to launch,” said Laura Forczyk, executive director of space consultancy Astralytical. “On the other hand, we've been waiting years for this launch, so what are a few more weeks. They are confident that this mission will go very smoothly.”
NASA said Tuesday that it is still assessing flight safety issues and would “share more details once we have a clearer path forward.”
The delays are particularly troubling for the Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace giant because it is years behind SpaceX in launching a crewed capsule to service the space station.
Both companies were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts to develop the plane in 2014, and since 2020, Elon Musk's Hawthorne company has brought eight operational crews to the base — while Boeing has only flown two unmanned flights.
The companies were chosen by NASA after the agency had to rely on the Russian program to send American astronauts to the space station after the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.
Boeing has reportedly had to eat $1.5 billion in Starliner cost overruns, and it can't afford a failure with astronauts on board, especially after the two crashes of its 737 Max 8 jets and a door plug that came out of a 737 this year Max 9 flight was flying en route to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County.
“Boeing has so much to prove. They are about four years behind SpaceX,” Forczyk said. “They need to make sure they have all their ducks in a row.”
