The space capsule will carry a team of two people to the International Space Station (ISS).
The countdown to the launch of the new Boeing Starliner The space capsule making its first crewed test flight was aborted, postponing the mission for at least 24 hours.
The postponement was announced Saturday during a live NASA webcast.
Previously, launch forecasts called for a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions.
However, less than four minutes before liftoff, a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that halted the countdown, according to mission officials.
The reason for this stop remains unclear.
.@NASA, @BoeingSpace And @ulalaunch (United Launch Alliance) canceled today’s launch opportunity due to the ground launch computer sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after conducting terminal counts. The ULA team is working to understand the… pic.twitter.com/pKkS6cdxYO
– NASA Space Operations (@NASASpaceOps) June 1, 2024
The maiden voyage of the CST-200 Starliner carrying two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to the International Space Station (ISS) has been much anticipated and much delayed as Boeing scrambles to secure a greater share of NASA’s lucrative business , now dominated by Elon Musk. SpaceX.
Mission commander Wilmore gave a short but rousing speech, telling tens of thousands of people watching the live feed: “This is a great day to be proud of your nation.”
A May 6 countdown was also interrupted just two hours before launch due to a faulty pressure valve on the Atlas’ upper stage, followed by weeks of additional delays caused by other technical problems, since resolved, on the Starliner itself.
A save date is available for Sunday, but it is not yet clear whether the spacecraft will be ready to launch.
Boeing’s first attempt to send an uncrewed Starliner to the space station in 2019 failed due to software and technical problems. But a second test was successful in 2022, paving the way for efforts to get the first crewed test mission off the ground.
Boeing’s difficulties
Boeing, whose commercial aircraft operations are in disarray after successive crises, badly needs a victory in space for its Starliner project, a program several years behind schedule with more than $1.5 billion in cost. cost overruns.
While Boeing has struggled, SpaceX has become a reliable orbiting taxi for NASA, supporting a new generation of privately built spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to the ISS and, in the future – as part of its ambitious Artemis program – to the Moon and possibly to Mars. .
Starliner would be in direct competition with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which since 2020 has been NASA’s only vehicle to send the ISS crew into orbit from American soil.
The flight would mark the first crewed trip to space using an Atlas rocket since the famous Atlas family of launch vehicles first sent astronauts, including John Glenn, on orbital flights for the Mercury program from NASA in the 1960s.
Once launched, the capsule is expected to arrive at the space station after a flight of about 26 hours and dock with the research outpost orbiting about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
The two astronauts are expected to stay at the space station for about a week before returning to Earth aboard the Starliner for a parachute and airbag assisted landing in the desert of the southwest United States – a first for the missions crewed by NASA.
Depending on the outcome of the first crewed test flight, Starliner is expected to fly at least six more crewed missions to the space station for NASA.
