After a day of speculation and probably leaks of the information on background, NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance have announced that they are pushing the schedule back another four days for the Crewed Flight Test of Starliner. The launching will be “no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 25, for the flight test carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station,” according to a release from NASA.
As to the reason for the new delay, NASA stated:
“The additional time allows teams to further assess a small helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster. Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight. The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight. As that work proceeds, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the International Space Station Program will take the next few days to review the data and procedures to make a final determination before proceeding to flight countdown.“
Reading between the lines, it seems that the leak has not been repaired but is instead “stable.” NASA and Boeing now have to “assess” whether this is an acceptable condition for flight. That decision will be made in the next few days and then everyone will have a better idea of when Starliner can launch with crew aboard for the first time.
Atlas V in the gloaming earlier this evening at SLC-41. Photo: NASA
It was all going well until it wasn’t. That’s often the story with launch attempts: tens of thousands of things must work perfectly, perform as planned, and operate normally, and only one thing has to go wrong for the attempt to be called off.
That was the case with United Launch Alliance’s attempt to launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner this evening, and with about two hours left in a smooth-running countdown with astronauts already aboard Starliner, the launch attempt was scrubbed. A faulty valve on the Centaur upper stage of Atlas V malfunctioned, and flight rules dictated that the launch attempt be called off.
UPDATE May 7th 7PM: ULA, Boeing and NASA are now targeting Friday May 17th at 6:16 PM EDT for the next launch attempt of Atlas V and Starliner:
After about a decade of setbacks and challenges, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is set to head to orbit with crew aboard for the first time tomorrow evening. To say that it has been a roller coaster for engineers and managers of the legacy-rich company would be a massive understatement. Still, the mood among the Space Coast workers at Boeing is best described as quietly confident.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner “Carlypso” On Top Of Altas V, M ay 5, 2024. Phtoo: Charles Boyer / ToT
After about a decade of setbacks and challenges, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is set to head to orbit with crew aboard for the first time tomorrow evening. To say that it has been a roller coaster for engineers and managers of the legacy-rich company would be a massive understatement, but the mood among the Space Coast workers at Boeing is best described as quietly confident.
Atlas V and Starliner after completing the short journey the launch pad this morning. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
On a warm morning on one of the first days of summer here on the Space Coast, United Launch Alliance rolled Atlas V and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner “Calypso” from ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility to the launch mount at Pad SLC-41.
The prime and backup crews for the upcoming Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test arrived at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. They landed on the storied Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) formerly known as the ShuttleLanding Facility (SLF) — the same runway that Space Shuttle orbiters returned to at the completion of their missions.
Starliner OFT-2 lifts off in 2022. Photo: Charles Boyer, ToT
NASA’s Commercial Crew directorate has announced the results of the Readiness Review for the planned launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner flight test: they are “go” for launch at 10:34 PM EDT on May 6.
Jim Free’s Comments
Jim Free, NASA Associate Administrator, began the press conference by saying, “The first crewed flight of a new spacecraft is a absolutely critical milestone. The lives of our crew members Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore are at stake. We don’t take that lightly at all. The most important thing we can do is protect those two people as well as our crew currently on board the space station. It’s our collective job to ensure we can fly this Mission successfully and to do that it must be safe.”
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free Photo: X.com
Free continued, saying that he was satisfied that the Readiness Review was thorough and that Starliner, Atlas V and ISS were prepared properly for the test flight. “Safety has always been our primary core value at NASA,” he said, “And it’s our primary focus during this Readiness Review, all the reviews that have led up to it and the entire development process I can say with confidence that the teams have absolutely done their due diligence.”
Free concluded by summarizing the Review results. “There’s still a little bit of close out work to do, but we are on track for a launch at 10:34 Eastern Daylight time on Monday May 6th.”
Free On Starliner and Orion Shared Technology
Free made an interesting statement about the importance of the Starliner flight: some of the technology used in the Boeing capsule is also used in Orion, which is, of course, used in the Artemis program. “There are many elements of this Mission which have similarity to hardware that will fly on Orion. Parachutes, as an example, so this [the Starliner Crewed Flight Test is] important across our entire agency.”
Ken Bowersox Comments
“May 6th is not a magical date. We’ll launch when we’re ready and we’re looking forward to to when that occurs.”
Ken Bowersox
Ken Bowersox, an Associate Administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate made some comments later in the press conference intended to remind everyone that the planned May 6 launch date is a target date, and not one set in stone. Bowersox is a veteran of five spaceflights, and joined the agency in 1987.
Ken Bowersox pictured during STS-73, prior to re-entry. Photo: NASA
“Butch reminded us how important it is to keep working thoroughly at a job all the way till you’re finished,” Bowersox said, “And Suni reminded us that launch dates aren’t magical dates. The important thing is to launch when we’re ready.”
“I can tell you at this review the team worked thoroughly through every bit of data that we had to look at as a management team, and I know that the teams that reviewed that data before it was brought to us looked at it even more closely, so when we polled today the team decided that we are ready to move forward to the Crew Flight Test.”
“Again, May 6th is not a magical date. We’ll launch when we’re ready and we’re looking forward to to when that occurs.”
The prime and backup crews for the upcoming Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test arrived at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. They landed on the storied Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) formerly known as the ShuttleLanding Facility (SLF) — the same runway that Space Shuttle orbiters returned to at the completion of their missions.
After offering some remarks and answering questions from the press, the crew departed to begin final preparations for their upcoming launch, planned for May 6, 2024, at 10:34 PM EDT. After a successful liftoff and some time in orbit to catch up with the International Space Station, the pair will dock at the orbiting laboratory and stay for about a week.
Wilmore began his remarks by saying, “Suni and I were talking. We love Florida! We love Kennedy Space Center because this is where you launch humans into space.” True, and Wilmore thanked everyone working on the upcoming Starliner launch. “You just want to mention everybody’s name,” he said. Wilmore then pointed out the NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance managers present at the arrival and thanked them and the backup crew members and other astronauts working this launch alongside the prime crew.
Flying In: Astronauts and backup crew arrive at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) on April 25, 2024. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media NowArriving in style: Boeing Starliner CFT astronauts flew to Kennedy Space Center using T-38 trainer aircraft. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToTButch Willmore and Suni Williams pulling up to the tarmac today at the Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at Kennedy Space Center Photo: Charles Boyer / ToTA confident Butch Wilmore greets the crowd awaiting him at KSC today Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Starliner outside of Boeing’s Starliner facility at Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
United Launch Alliance and Boeing transported the CST-100 Starliner capsule from Boeing’s preparation facility aside the VAB early this morning and transported it to SLC-41 for mating to its booster, an Atlas V N22. Launch of the Crewed Flight Test is scheduled for NET May 6, 2024, with an eight day mission planned for crew and spacecraft.
On hand to greet Boeing employees and members of the press were CFT Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams and CFT Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore. The two thanked everyone for coming out to greet them early in the morning, and they expressed their confidence in a great mission to come. “We’re super proud of this team,” Williams said. “They made it happen, and it’s time to turn [Starliner] over from production to operations.” With that, the pair expressed their readiness to go fly aboard Starliner.
Flight Objectives
Butch Wilmore gives a thumbs-up to onlookers on April 16, 2024. Photo: Ed Cordero / Florida Media Now
First, and foremost, Boeing and NASA mission managers would like to see a relatively event-free maiden crewed flight of Starliner, with no unexpected major incidents. Boeing’s Starliner has flown twice, once in 2019 and once in 2022, and neither time with crew aboard.
The first flight, Orbital Flight Test 1 (OFT-1), in 2019, failed to reach the International Space Station (ISS) after the on-board clock malfunctioned. The second flight, Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), in 2022 met all of its major objectives and docked with the ISS, where it remained for four days before returning to Earth.
Since the second flight, other problems, including a potentially flammable tape used to wrap the wiring harnesses of Starliner were replaced, issues with parachute lines and its harness were improved and tested, and software improvements were made. Those remediations held up this Crewed Flight Test until earlier this year, and after that, scheduling issues on the International Space Station ports has kept Starliner on the ground.
Now that the ISS docking ports are clear and technical issues have been resolved, Boeing, United Launch Alliance and NASA have begun their launch campaign, which begins in earnest with a planned liftoff no earlier than May 6th.
Starliner wiating transportation outside Boeing’s facility at Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Crewed Flight Test Objectives
Last month, Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Vice President and Program Manager of the Starliner Program outlined what promises to be a busy schedule for Williams and Willmore during the flight. “The CFT flight is really the introduction of crew into our vehicle system. So a lot of our flight test objectives are about how that interface is going to work.”
Nappi said regarding flight test objectives, “We’ve got just under 90 of them. And it’s all, does the vehicle perform with the human in the loop, as expected?”
“We flew OFT-2,” Nappi added, “And that was the uncrewed mission for the Starliner vehicle. It was very successful. Now we introduce the human. And so what are we going to do to establish that interface?”
“From prelaunch through ascent, we’re going to be looking at how the astronauts fit into the seats, how they interface with the equipment in the vehicle. when we go through approach and rendezvous.” After that, Nappi said, “We’ll confirm the thruster performance and manual scenarios are working as expected. We’ll check the communications. We’ll check the manual and auto navigation systems and the operation of the life support system with crew now in the vehicle.”
“CFT is a test flight, so we expect that there may be some lessons learned,” Nappi concluded.
Delta IV Heavy on March 28, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Today was an active day for launch scheduling: United Launch Alliance has announced that they will make their next attempt to launch Delta IV Heavy and NROL-70 on Tuesday April 9th, and later, NASA announced that the Crewed Flight Test of Boeing’s Starliner is now Monday, May 6th.
Delta IV Heavy / NROL-70
Delta IV was scrubbed at T-min 3:58 by a faulty gaseous nitrogen pump on its first attempt March 28, and at the time, ULA engineers and CEO Tory Bruno were optimistic that a second attempt could happen the next day. Unfortunately, the pump failed again, and ULA stated that they would announce a new launch date only when they were certain that they and NASA (who provides the N2 service to the pad) were past the problem.
Today ULA released their new target date:
DELTA IV HEAVY TO LAUNCH NROL-70
“A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket is launching the NROL-70 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This is the 16th and final launch of a Delta IV Heavy rocket.
Launch Date and Time: April 9 at 12:53 p.m. EDT, pending range approval
The launch will be from SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Starliner Crewed Flight Test (CFT)
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, 2022. Photo: NASA/Frank Michaux
Later on in the day, rumors of a shift in the Starliner launch date from May 1st came to pass when NASA made this announcement:
NASA, Boeing Update Launch Date for Starliner’s First Astronaut Flight
“Following a review of the International Space Station operations, NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test now is targeting no earlier than Monday, May 6, for Starliner’s first launch with astronauts to the orbital complex. The date adjustment optimizes space station schedule of activities planned toward the end of April, including a cargo spacecraft undocking and a crew spacecraft port relocation required for Starliner docking. NASA and Boeing also are performing prelaunch closeout work and completing final certification for flight.”
It should be noted that Starliner’s launch date was not moved due to any technical issue, but instead because of ISS logistics.
NASA Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be aboard Starliner when it heads to the International Space Station for a planned one week stay on the orbiting outpost.
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