Boeing still struggles to fix latest Starliner issue in time for launch

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Boeing was supposed to build on the success of its long-delayed Starliner spacecraft, but the launch was canceled again last week. At the time, Boeing only said there was a problem with “unexpected valve position indications”, but the extent of the problem is more serious than initially reported. Even with several days on the job, Boeing still doesn’t know why the valves are malfunctioning. If there is no fix soon, Starliner could miss its launch window entirely, pushing the launch back for at least several months.

The CST-100 Starliner is Boeing’s contribution to NASA’s commercial crew program, which currently includes only one usable spacecraft: the SpaceX Dragon. Boeing seemed to be in the lead for the first few years after that, and SpaceX was awarded contracts. The objective of Commercial Crew is to build vehicles that allow NASA to access the International Space Station (ISS) without going through the Russians. SpaceX delivered, after completing three crewed missions to the ISS. Boeing, however, is still trying to get Starliner off the ground.

Boeing is working on the launch of Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT 2), which is a resumption of OFT 1. This launch failed in late 2019 when computer problems caused the unmanned spacecraft to miss its appointment with the ISS. NASA is understandably reluctant to put a crew on the Starliner until it can complete this autonomous demonstration mission. That goal is even further away now that we have more details on last week’s aborted launch.

According to NASA, 13 fuel system valves were stuck in the closed position as the launch approached on August 3. Boeing was unable to open the floodgates, nor to determine what caused them in the first place. The spacecraft and its Atlas V rocket were brought back to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) where engineers spent the last week examining the hardware. Yesterday, Boeing had successfully opened seven of the 13 valves. The team uses mechanical, electrical and thermal techniques to open the valves, but the root cause is still unknown.

NASA has said it remains committed to working with Boeing on a launch plan, but that can only continue once the mechanism causing the failure is understood and mitigated. Boeing doesn’t have much time to figure it out, either. In less than two weeks, SpaceX will launch the CRS-23 cargo mission to the ISS, and that spacecraft will need a docking port. After that, ULA will need ground resources to launch NASA’s Lucy mission on an Atlas V rocket. SpaceX also launched the crewed ISS in October, and this ship will also need a free docking port. . Boeing would still have a chance to perform a flight in late 2021, about two years after initially hoping to complete the orbital flight test.

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