Boeing postpones Starliner launch to International Space Station after new glitch

Boeing delayed an uncrewed flight of its Starliner capsule to the International Space Station (ISS)over a propulsion issue, pushing back by at least a day a key test it last attempted in 2019.

Boeingengineers ruled out "a number of potential causes, including software," but were still working to understand the source of "unexpected valve position indications" in the propulsion system,Boeingsaid in a statement.

"Additional time is needed to complete the assessment,"Boeingsaid, adding that it would also not proceed with the next potential launch window on Wednesday.

The test flight was supposed to take place Friday but had to be rescheduled after a new Russiansciencemodule inadvertently fired its thrusters following docking with the ISS, pushing the orbital outpost off kilter.

After NASA ended the Space Shuttle programme in 2011, it gave both Boeing and SpaceX multi-billion dollar contracts to provide its astronauts with taxi services to the space station and end US reliance on Russian rockets for the journey.

SpaceX's program has moved forward faster, having now undertaken three crewed missions.

Boeing's program is lagging behind, and needs to complete a successful uncrewed mission before it can carry astronauts.

During an initial uncrewed test flight in December 2019, the Starliner capsule experienced software glitches that caused problems with the way it fired its thrusters.

As a result, Starliner did not have enough fuel to reach the ISS and had to return to Earth prematurely, and a subsequent investigation showed it almost experienced a dire flight anomaly while reentering the atmosphere.

NASA later called the mission a "high visibility close call," a rare designation reserved for near-catastrophes.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA's commercial crew program, told reporters last week he had confidence this time around.

"We want it to go well, we expect it to go well, and we've done all the preparations we can possibly do," he said.

"Starliner is a great vehicle, but we know how hard it is, and it's a test flight as well and I fully expect we'll learn something on this test flight."

When it flies, the spacecraft will carry more than 400 pounds (180 kilogrammes) of cargo and crew supplies to the ISS and will return more than 550 pounds of cargo, including air tanks, when it lands in the western US desert at the end of its mission.

(With inputs from agencies)