The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft has now been rescheduled for Friday after a technical issue with the Atlas V rocket. The launch was meant to mark a significant step forward for Boeing as it competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for NASA contracts.
With just under two hours remaining in the countdown, the mission was called off due to a valve issue in the rocket’s second stage, which would propel the Starliner capsule into orbit. The Atlas V rocket is provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture. The glitch was announced during a live NASA webcast, attributed to a “buzzing” valve controlling fuel pressure. Although the phenomenon had been noticed on previous non-crewed flights, the heightened safety standards for astronaut missions prompted officials to postpone.
The next available windows for launch are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. However, if the issue isn’t resolved by 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the launch will likely be delayed further. ULA CEO Tory Bruno assured that his team would be working overnight to examine the buzzing and determine its tolerability.
The crew for the mission, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore (61) and Sunita “Suni” Williams (58), had already been seated in the capsule for an hour when the launch was canceled. They were safely evacuated by technicians and transported away from the launch complex in preparation for another attempt once the problem is fixed.
Despite the setback, such delays are not uncommon in the space industry. Launches are often postponed due to even minor technical issues, particularly for new spacecraft carrying astronauts.
The Starliner spacecraft has faced scrutiny following its previous uncrewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019, which ended in failure. The capsule completed another test flight to the ISS two years ago without crew. Boeing remains under pressure, given setbacks in its commercial airplane business and the more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns on its $4.2 billion fixed-price NASA contract.
Boeing aims to establish itself as a reliable partner for NASA alongside SpaceX, which has successfully operated its Crew Dragon capsule since 2020. The Starliner spacecraft is intended to compete directly with Crew Dragon and offer a redundant option for NASA astronauts traveling to the ISS.
The Starliner test flight crew is led by Wilmore as commander and Williams as pilot. Both astronauts are NASA veterans with over 500 days in space. They are expected to remain on the ISS for about a week before returning to Earth via the Starliner’s airbag and parachute landing system, which will be used for a crewed NASA mission for the first time.
NASA views the Starliner as crucial for maintaining multiple transportation options to the ISS, which is projected to retire around 2030. Pending a successful test flight, the spacecraft will be used for at least six more crewed missions to the ISS.
This flight would be the first time in decades that an Atlas rocket has carried astronauts into space, the last instance being the Mercury missions of the 1960s. Once resolved, Boeing’s latest test flight will not only reaffirm the Starliner’s potential but also provide NASA with a second dependable spacecraft for future missions.