Boeing Starliner back to factory for “troubleshooting”

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule returns to the factory for a deeper dive into the valve issues that cleaned up a critical test flight earlier this month. The spacecraft was believed to have been launched towards the International Space Station on August 3. It was a redesign of an unmanned test flight that ended in an unscheduled landing in the New Mexico desert in 2019 thanks to software glitches. On August 3, the launch was halted after a systems check “detected unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system,” Boeing said at the time.

The Atlas capsule and rocket were brought back to the assembly building and the capsule removed so engineers could get a good look at the hesitant valves. That was not enough and on Friday NASA spokesman Steve Stich said the capsule had to return to the Boeing store for “more in-depth troubleshooting.” The earliest he will be ready for another attempt is sometime in October.