Starliner investigation continues

WASHINGTON – Boeing is continuing its investigation into the thruster issue that delayed the launch of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle, but could soon run into scheduling conflicts both on the International Space Station and with its launch vehicle.

In an Aug. 6 statement, Boeing said it was continuing to investigate why several valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system were unexpectedly in the closed position during the countdown to the mission’s Aug. 3 launch attempt. Orbital Flight Test (OFT) 2, an unmanned test flight. Boeing canceled the launch about three hours before the scheduled take-off due to the issue.

The Starliner, atop its Atlas 5 rocket, is back in the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, giving engineers access to the spacecraft. They were able to open some valves by issuing a new set of commands.

“Cautious optimism is a good way to describe how the team feels,” John Vollmer, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s sales teams, said in a statement.

It is not clear what caused the valves to malfunction, although Boeing said in an earlier statement that they had ruled out software issues. One possibility is damage such as water intrusion during a severe thunderstorm shortly after the rocket was deployed to the platform on August 2.

Neither NASA nor Boeing have set a new launch date for the OFT-2 mission. Boeing said in its statement that it is “evaluating several launch opportunities for Starliner in August” and that it will work with NASA and the United Launch Alliance to determine an appropriate launch date.

NASA, in its own statement on Aug. 6, said it and Boeing “will continue to assess timelines based on where troubleshooting efforts take them before deciding when the next official launch of the aircraft will take place. OFT-2 mission “.

A combination of factors could cause a prolonged delay if the OFT-2 mission does not launch by the end of August. A Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the CRS-23 cargo mission to the ISS on August 28. It will use the same docking port as Starliner for OFT-2, meaning that if OFT-2 does not complete its mission by the end of August, NASA will either have to postpone the CRS-23 or wait until the end. of this mission, probably at the end of September at the earliest.

At this point, however, the ULA will need to focus on preparations for its next Atlas 5 launch, NASA’s mission to asteroid Lucy. This mission has a three week launch window that opens in mid-October. The Atlas 5 for OFT-2 should be “unstacked” and Lucy’s assembled in the VIF, with the spacecraft then set up and tested. Considering the narrow window for Lucy, further testing of the vehicle is likely to find issues long before the launch window opens.

An additional complication is that this will take place at the height of the tropical weather season, with the possibility of tropical storms and hurricanes delaying launches or launch preparations by days.

If OFT-2 doesn’t launch when its Atlas 5 needs to be unstacked to prepare for the Lucy mission, the next opportunity might not be until November, after the SpaceX Crew Dragon Crew-3 mission launches in late October. and the Crew-2 mission returns home, freeing a docking port for Starliner.