Boeing Starliner’s debut crew launch postponed again, Sunita Williams’ 3rd space mission deferred to June

Boeing’s eagerly anticipated maiden crewed launch of the Starliner spacecraft has faced yet another setback.US space agency NASA on Thursday (May 22) announced that the mission, piloted by Indian-origin Sunita Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) and originally slated for May 7, is now rescheduled for June.

The teams are presently working towards a launch opportunity at 12:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1, with additional opportunities on June 2, June 5, and June 6.

A helium leak on the Starliner's service module had impeded the spacecraft's first mission to space carrying humans and pushed back the launch with successive delays.

The postponement was necessary to allow engineering teams to assess and address the helium leak, which was specifically traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster.

NASA in a statement said that mission managers from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) continue to evaluate a path forward towards launching the Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Crewed Flight Test will see NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore embarking on their journey to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

It will be the third space mission for Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, having 50 hours and 40 minutes of total cumulative spacewalk time, considered the second highest among female astronauts.

Significance of the Crewed Flight Test (CFT)

Following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle programme, the agency enlisted the services of two private companies in September 2014, SpaceX and Boeing, to develop spacecraft for crewed missions to the ISS.

These integrated spacecraft, rockets and associated systems will carry up to four astronauts on NASA missions, maintaining a space station crew of seven to maximise time dedicated to scientific research in the orbiting laboratory.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft mission is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the US aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from US soil.

Boeing’s Crew Test Flight holds particular significance, as it is the final test flight before the US space agency can certify the Starliner as reliable for routine missions to and from the ISS.

The Starliner spacecraft will be catapulted into space on an Atlas 5 rocket of the rocket company United Launch Alliance from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will remain docked at the orbiting laboratory for about two weeks to evaluate the new spacecraft and its systems before returning to Earth in the Western United States.

‘Houston, we have a problem’: Recurrent delays thwart the launch

Mission managers of the Boeing Starliner's CFT called off the mission on May 7, just two hours before the scheduled launch due to a valve glitch in the Atlas 5 rocket's upper stage. Boeing said in its statement that the valve was successfully replaced on May 11 and tested to confirm it was working properly.

Later on May 14, NASA announced that the CFT mission scheduled for May 17 had been pushed to no later than May 21 due to what it described as a "small helium leak" in the spacecraft's service module.

On May 17, however, the space agency said that the launch was further pushed back to May 25.

The current delay to June marks the fourth postponement of the mission.

"There has been a great deal of exceptional analysis and testing over the last two weeks by the joint NASA, Boeing, and ULA teams to replace the Centaur Self Regulating Valve and troubleshoot the Starliner Service Module helium manifold leak," said Steve Stich, manager of the NASA Commercial Crew Program.

"It has been important that we take our time to understand all the complexities of each issue including the redundant capabilities of the Starliner propulsion system and any implications to our Interim Human Rating Certification, he said in a statement issued by the US space agency.

"We will launch Butch and Suni on this test mission after the entire community has reviewed the teams' progress and flight rationale at the upcoming Delta Agency Flight Test Readiness Review," he said.

Both Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore continue practising in Starliner simulators and the crew that remains quarantined will fly back to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida closer to the new launch date, the space agency said.

Boeing’s credibility under question

Boeing has encountered numerous delays and budget overruns in the Starliner programme. Despite its ambitious goals, the programme has struggled to meet its deadlines and remains over budget by approximately $1.5 billion.

The aviation company has also been under scrutiny following two fatal crashes of their 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019. These accidents raised questions about the plane’s safety and led to a grounding of the model worldwide.

In the last few months, more than a dozen near-miss incidents were reported in Boeing aircraft as well.
More recently, the deaths of two whistleblowers, John Barnett and Joshua Dean, who raised concerns about Boeing’s manufacturing practices, have added another layer of complexity to the situation.

(With inputs from agencies)