KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Friday was a disappointing day for NASA and Boeing.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft won’t be lifting off from Florida’s space coast this month, and the uncrewed mission may not lift off this year.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is returning to the factory for troubleshooting of four propulsion system valves that remain closed after a planned launch on Aug. 3 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was scrubbed.
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“We have to have the maturity to stop, investigate and fix before flying again and that’s what we are doing,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations.
The move means that the Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station won’t happen until the issue can be fixed.
During a teleconference Friday afternoon, NASA and Boeing said the launch can’t happen until after NASA ‘s Lucy asteroid mission in mid-October.
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Officials said Starliner may have interacted with some moisture that created nitric acid which resulted in corrosion.
Boeing is working to demonstrate that the Starliner spacecraft, like the SpaceX Crew Dragon, is ready to carry astronauts to the International Space Station a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Starliner’s first uncrewed flight failed to reach the ISS.
Its second uncrewed flight test was to cost Boeing an estimated $400 million, before this latest delay.
“Mission success in human spaceflight depends on thousands of factors coming together at the right time,” said John Vollmer, vice president and program manager, Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. “We’ll continue to work the issue from the Starliner factory and have decided to stand down for this launch window to make way for other national priority missions.”
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Boeing said it will work with NASA to confirm a new launch date once the valve issue is resolved.
See more in the video above.
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