Boeing Starliner launch delayed indefinitely due to troublesome technical issue

The second unmanned test of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is pending, as mission teams with Boeing and NASA solve a problem with the spacecraft’s propulsion system.

A item I wrote for Gizmodo in July 2020 with the headline: “Sloppy Starliner Test Investigation Reveals Boeing’s Weakness as a NASA Partner. That’s how I felt at the time, and this latest news does nothing to change my opinion of the aerospace giant.

The Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission was Assumed to take off on Tuesday, but “unexpected valve position indications” on the CST-100 Starliner’s propulsion system caused a delay, according to a NASA statement declaration. The countdown to launch was already underway when the issue was detected of valves in the wrong configuration required for launch.

This is now the second delay of the second unmanned flight test of the capsule, not to mention the long delay caused by the failure of the first test in December 2019, during which Boeing had to face 80 recommendations conducted by the NASA-Boeing Independent Review Team. Starliner was due to launch on Friday, July 29, but Russia failed Nauka module forced a postponement (for the latest news on this, check out my Publish yesterday).

On Tuesday, mission teams with Boeing and NASA attempted to resolve the issue by “cycling the service module propulsion system valves,” as NASA notes. Some potential causes, especially those related to software, have been ruled out, but the team needs more time to complete their assessment.

Further inspections and tests are warranted, so the team plans to transport the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with Starliner positioned atop, to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. . The team turns off Starliner later today then move the rocket and spaceship to VIF. A postponed launch date and time has not been determined.

“NASA and Boeing will take whatever time is necessary to ensure that Starliner is ready for its important unmanned flight test to the space station and will seek out the next available opportunity after the issue is resolved,” writes NASA.

This is now the part of my article when I’m forced to say that this is all part of normal development and testing, that it’s good to be safe, and to expect issues, and blah blah blah. But as much as I’m in favor of this project, it’s clearly a shit show. Boeing needs to pull itself together, whether it’s designing safe commercial crew vehicles for NASA astronauts or educate pilots terribly dangerous features added to new generation aircraft.

Starliner is likely to be a success and will give NASA a second option to ship its astronauts to the International Space Station (SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is already operational). Corn the space agency should seriously consider its options when seeking future partners.