US Boeing's Starliner Manned Test Flight Canceled Due to Technical Glitches

TapTechNews June 2nd news, on June 1st, NASA announced that the first manned test flight mission of the US Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was originally scheduled for that day, was canceled due to technical glitches.

When there were only 3 minutes and 50 seconds left before the planned liftoff, the rocket's computer initiated the suspension procedure. NASA said the next launch attempt could be made at the earliest next Wednesday.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA), the government contractor in charge of this launch mission, said Tory Bruno, its president and chief executive, said one of the three redundant computer systems at the base of the launch pad responsible for initiating the launch sequence had a problem, which led to the automatic suspension of the launch mission.

TapTechNews noted that NASA said in its Saturday night update that ULA engineers still didn't know the cause of the computer suspension and they would troubleshoot the ground support equipment on Saturday night.

NASA originally planned to reschedule the launch time to Sunday, but later said it would abandon Sunday's launch attempt to give the team more time to assess the ground support equipment problem. The next possible launch window is Wednesday and Thursday.

The capsule was originally scheduled to carry two NASA astronauts to perform a 25-hour flight from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida to the International Space Station. This is the first manned flight mission of a commercially-built starship.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally planned to take the Starliner for their first flight to have this spacecraft fully tested before performing NASA's operational missions. After the space shuttle retired in 2011, NASA cooperated with two commercial companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to be responsible for transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The launch delay is about a month after the originally scheduled docking time of the Starliner with the space station, and the launch itself has been delayed by several years compared to the original plan.

Even more unexpectedly, NASA announced at a Friday press conference that because the urine recycling system on the space station malfunctioned earlier this week, the astronauts' luggage would be left on Earth to make room for transporting a new water pump. Dana Weigel, project manager of the International Space Station, said there are spare clothes and hygiene products on the station that the crew can use during their stay.

Here are more details about this delayed launch:

This was originally planned to be the first manned flight of the Starliner.

In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to build the Starliner as a vehicle to transport astronauts to perform regular missions to the International Space Station.

Since then, the Starliner project has been significantly behind schedule and over budget. Boeing estimates that the project has cost the company more than $1 billion.

At the same time as awarding the contract to Boeing, NASA also provided $2.6 billion to SpaceX to develop the manned version of the Dragon spacecraft. This spacecraft conducted a manned test flight in 2020 and can now regularly transport astronauts to the space station.

The Starliner has been plagued by technical problems.

Saturday's launch delay is not the first delay of the Starliner program.

The Starliner failed to reach the International Space Station in its first mission in 2019. The reason was a wrong clock setting on board, which caused the computer to prematurely start the sp acecraft's engine. Although some thrusters did not work as planned, the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station in its second test flight in 2022.

Last year, Boeing postponed the first manned flight of the Starliner due to the discovery by company officials that the adhesive used for hundreds of meters of wires may be flammable, and the strength of the three parachute connection ropes of the capsule seems to be lower than expected.

The May 6th launch attempt was canceled due to a stuck valve on the rocket carrying the Starliner. The valve has been replaced, but engineers also found a slight helium leak in one of the Starliner's thrusters.

The leak may be due to a faulty seal, but the engineers are not completely sure. Nevertheless, after weeks of extensive analysis, they said that even if there is a leak, the Starship can fly safely.