Boeing Starliner test flight to ISS postponed to 2022

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft continues to struggle to get to the International Space Station, with its unmanned Orbital Flight Test-2 to the ISS now being pushed back until next year. The test is part of NASA’s commercial crew program, which sees the space agency working with private companies like Boeing and SpaceX to transport astronauts to the station.

NASA said on Friday that the team behind OFT-2 “is working on launch opportunities in the first half of 2022.” This follows a clean launch last August. In December 2019, the first major Starliner flight test did not go as planned, with unmanned spacecraft launch but is experiencing a timing problem and is unable to reach the ISS. He did, however, return safely to Earth.

The problem now, with OGT-2, has to do with an “oxidant isolation valve problem on the Starliner service module propulsion system,” NASA said in a blog post on Friday.

“This is a complex problem involving hazardous materials and complex areas of the spacecraft that are not easily accessible. It took a methodical approach and sound engineering to effectively examine,” Steve Stich, program director of the spacecraft. ‘commercial crew at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said in the post.

In addition to trying to achieve NASA’s goal of “safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit,” the commercial crew program in connection with the space agency Artemis and the moon’s plans for Mars. Artemis calls for sending the first woman and the next man to the moon soon and possibly set up a sustainable exploration there. The knowledge acquired through Artemis will be used to prepare for the dispatch of astronauts to the red planet.

So far, SpaceX and its Crew Dragon spacecraft have had better luck than Boeing when it comes to the commercial crew program. After some delays, the company founded by Elon Musk completed its Demo-1 unmanned test mission in 2019 and has since astronauts transported to the ISS several times. Earlier this week, NASA announced that it is reassigning a pair of astronauts from Boeing missions to an upcoming SpaceX mission. In April, NASA announced that they have selected SpaceX to provide the human landing system for the Artemis program.

There is also a space tourism angle for SpaceX. In June, the company signed an agreement to send space tourists to the ISS starting next year (at an advertised price of $ 55 million per seat). And last month, SpaceX took a step in that direction when his mission Inspiration4 sent a crew of private citizens to orbit the Earth.

It is not known exactly when Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test 2 will take place.

“OFT-2’s potential launch windows continue to be evaluated by NASA, Boeing, United Launch Alliance and Eastern Range,” NASA said in its article. “The team is currently working on opportunities in the first half of 2022 pending the preparation of the material, the rocket manifesto and the availability of the space station.”