First crewed Starliner launch to the space station had to be canceled by Boeing

First crewed Starliner launch to the space station had to be canceled by Boeing
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Due to an unforeseen problem with a valve on the spacecraft’s rocket, NASA and Boeing were forced to abort Monday’s planned launch attempt to the International Space Station.

On its first crewed test flight, Boeing’s Starliner capsule was supposed to take off from Florida‘s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:34 p.m. ET. About two hours before the scheduled liftoff, the launch attempt was canceled, with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams safely secured into their seats.

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An abnormality on an oxygen valve on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which the Starliner capsule was scheduled to launch on, led mission controllers to order a “scrub” launch.

When the crewed Starliner mission takes place, it will be the last critical test that NASA must approve before allowing Boeing to start regular flights to and from the space station.

Safety is the first priority for the spacecraft’s first flight with people aboard, according to representatives from Boeing and NASA.

Boeing has already had years of delays and financial overruns with its Starliner program; the scrubbed launch is just one more blow. It now lags far behind SpaceX, which since 2020 has been carrying out crewed space station flights on behalf of NASA.

As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule were both developed. After the agency’s space shuttles were retired more than ten years ago, the program was launched to assist private companies in developing new spacecraft that would carry humans into low-Earth orbit.

Due to software problems, Starliner’s first unmanned voyage in 2019 had to be canceled before the vehicle could try to dock and rendezvous with the International Space Station. After fuel valve problems repeatedly postponed a second attempt, Boeing was unable to complete an unmanned flight to and from the space station until 2022.

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