NASA delays Boeing Starliner's maiden crew flight to June 5
NASA has rescheduled the launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for Wednesday, June 5 at 10:52am ET (8:22 pm IST) following a last-minute delay on Saturday. The spacecraft will be launched atop an Atlas V rocket as part of its maiden crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams will be onboard for the mission, which is set to depart from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Technical delays cause initial launch postponement
The initial launch, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed due to problems with the launchpad's ground support equipment. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) team identified an issue with a single ground power supply within one of the three redundant chassis. This chassis provides power to various system functions, including "the card responsible for the stable replenishment topping valves for the Centaur upper stage," according to NASA.
Faulty chassis replaced to resolve technical issue
To rectify the issue, the faulty chassis was removed, inspected, and replaced with a spare. NASA confirmed that there were no signs of physical damage and all hardware is performing as expected after functional checkouts of the new chassis and cards. A comprehensive failure analysis will be conducted to better understand the root cause of this incident.
Favorable weather predicted for rescheduled launch
The US Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for the rescheduled launch on Wednesday. If any issues arise preventing the launch on this day, another opportunity is scheduled for the following day. This prediction provides an optimistic outlook for the much-anticipated Starliner spacecraft mission.
Starliner's mission to the International Space Station
The Starliner spacecraft is set to fly to the ISS, where astronauts Wilmore and Williams will stay for a week. This mission follows years of delays due to technical issues and two previous uncrewed flights; one in 2019 that failed to reach the ISS, and a successful mission in 2022. The first crewed flight was initially scheduled for May 6, but was postponed due to an issue with the Atlas V rocket and a subsequent helium leak on the Starliner.
