Boeing Starliner's return to Earth postponed, with no new date set for astronauts' flight home
Posted 13h ago13 hours ago, updated 13h ago13 hours agoThe Boeing Starliner capsule approaches the International Space Station during a test flight in 2022.(Supplied: NASA)
- In short: The Boeing Starliner space capsule's return from the International Space Station has been delayed due to technical problems.
- The Starliner program has been plagued by technical difficulties, including multiple launch delays. No new return date has been set.
- What's next? NASA officials say they want to better understand the cause of the problems before Starliner embarks on its six-hour return journey.
The pair's return was previously scheduled for June 26, having already been postponed once before from June 14.
NASA did not provide a new date, raising questions about when the mission's two astronauts will return.
"Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station's two planned spacewalks on June 24 and July 2," the agency said in a statement.
Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, both Americans, lifted off on June 5 as a final demonstration to obtain routine flight certification from NASA.
"Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station," Mr Stich said, adding that the additional time would yield "valuable insight" into system upgrades for future missions.
The crewed test of the spacecraft, which has been test-flown to space twice since 2019 without humans on board, has experienced five failures of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters, five leaks of helium meant to pressurise those thrusters, and a slow-moving propellant valve that signalled unfixed issues from the past.
The issues and the additional tests NASA and Boeing have had to do call into question when exactly Starliner will be able to fly its crew home, and add to a list of broader problems Boeing faces with its Starliner program.
The company has spent $US1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in cost overruns, on top of its $4.5 billion ($6.7 billion) NASA development contract.
NASA wants Starliner to become the second US spacecraft capable of ferrying its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) alongside SpaceX's Crew Dragon, which has been the agency's primary ride since 2020.
Boeing's Starliner program has long struggled with software glitches, design problems and subcontractor disputes.
The launch of the crewed flight was delayed for two years due to a variety of issues, with technical difficulties at one point causing a postponement just 24 hours before launch.
Starliner launch faces lengthy delays due to tech issues
Boeing badly needs a space win for its Starliner venture, a years-delayed program with more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns.When Starliner arrived in the space station's vicinity to dock on June 6, the five thruster failures prohibited the spacecraft from making a close approach until Boeing could implement a fix.
The company rewrote software and tweaked some procedures to revive four of them, and proceeded with a docking.
Starliner's undocking and return to Earth represent the spacecraft's most complicated phases of its test mission.
NASA officials say they want to better understand the cause of the thruster failures, valve issue and helium leaks that occurred on the trip to the ISS before Starliner embarks on its roughly six-hour return journey.
While just one thruster is currently dead, Boeing encountered four thruster problems during the capsule's uncrewed return from space in 2022.
According to flight rules established jointly by Boeing and NASA, Starliner's manoeuvring thrusters must, at a minimum, allow for "6 degrees of freedom of control", and each has one backup thruster.
That could mean at least 12 of the 28 thrusters — most of which are backups — are required for a safe flight.
However, the flight could potentially be undertaken with fewer thrusters, as long as the remaining thrusters each have one backup and can work together in a way that does not restrict Starliner's freedom of movement in space.
Reuters
