BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The test flight of Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft has been delayed again.
The rocket was scheduled to launch Tuesday afternoon, but Boeing announced around 10:30 a.m. that the test flight would be delayed for the second time in two weeks.
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Officials said another launch window would open on Wednesday, but Boeing announced Tuesday evening they weren’t proceeding with that launch opportunity either.
NASA officials said the launch was delayed due to “unexpected valve position indications in the Starliner propulsion system.”
Boeing and NASA teams will power down the spacecraft Tuesday evening and roll the rocket and spacecraft back to the Vertical Integration Facility Wednesday for additional testing.
Officials have not said when the next available launch opportunity will be.
We're standing down from today's #Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 launch.
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) August 3, 2021
During pre-launch preparations, our engineers detected unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system.
Read the full statement: https://t.co/uQBjvq8ObU pic.twitter.com/4X2INbZj7Q
The Starliner was also unable to lift off for the test flight last week due to a problem at the Space Station.
A Russian spacecraft malfunctioned, firing its thrusters while docked at the ISS, temporarily knocking the space station out of its normal orientation
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When it does lift off, it will be the Starliner’s second un-crewed flight test to the International Space Station, intended to show the Starliner is capable of ferrying astronauts to the space station as part of NASA”s Commercial Crew Program.
“If something doesn’t work right we fix it and go again. That’s what Boeing decided to do,” NASA astronaut Mike Fincke said. “They’re going to get it right this time and we’re going to have super confidence for the crew flight test.”
