Boeing, NASA cancel Starliner launch attempt scheduled Sunday after failed Saturday take-off

Boeing’s
first
Starliner
flight
with
astronauts
on
board
was
called
off
in
the
final
minutes
on
Saturday,
and
the
backup
Sunday
launch
date
was
also
canceled.

The
company
was
targeting
a
June
1
launch
at
12:25
p.m.
ET
of
its
capsule,
which
would
have
carried
astronauts
to
the
International
Space
Station
for
the
first
time
in
a
final
major
test
of
the
system.

Leaders
from
Boeing,
NASA
and
the
United
Launch
Alliance,
or
ULA,
held
a
press
conference
later
Saturday
afternoon
to
provide
updates
on
the
malfunction
and
the
status
of
the
next
launch
attempt.

“The
disappointment
lasts
for
about
three
seconds,”
said
Mark
Nappi,
Vice
President
and
Program
Manager
of
Boeing’s
Commercial
Crew
Program.
“And
then
you
just
immediately
get
busy
and
do
your
job.”

Boeing
had
a
backup
launch
date
scheduled
for
Sunday
at
12:03
p.m.
EDT.
But
Saturday
evening,
NASA
announced
the
cancellation
of
that
Sunday
launch
“to
give
the
team
additional
time
to
assess
a
ground
support
equipment
issue”
at
the
Florida
launch
site.

NASA
plans
to
provide
further
updates
on
the
next
steps
for
the
rocket
launch.
The
following
possible
launch
dates
are
June
5th
or
June
6th.

An
investigation
into
the
cause
of
the
malfunction
is
underway
and
crew
members
may
have
to
work
through
the
night
to
troubleshoot
the
issue.

“The
leading
suspect
would
be
either
a
hardware
problem
or
a
problem
with
the
network,”
ULA
CEO
Tory
Bruno
said
at
the
Saturday
press
conference,
noting
that
they
will
not
fully
know
the
source
of
the
issue
until
the
investigation
is
complete.

The
launch’s
hold
was
automatically
issued
earlier
Saturday
for
an
unspecified
reason,
NASA
said
on
its
broadcast,
with
under
four
minutes
remaining
in
the
countdown.
Holds
in
a
rocket
launch
countdown
–
as
well
as
“scrubs,”
indicating
a
launch
delay
–
are
a
common
occurrence
in
the
industry.
The
crew
on
board
are
safe
and
will
disembark.

Two
NASA
astronauts
are
aboard
the
Starliner
capsule,
which
would
be
carried
by
United
Launch
Alliance’s
Atlas
V
rocket
to
the
International
Space
Station.

NASA
and
Boeing
called
off
a
launch
attempt
in
early
May
due
to
an
issue
detected
with
the
rocket.
ULA,
a
joint
venture
of
Boeing
and


Lockheed
Martin,
replaced
the
rocket’s
problematic
valve.

After
calling
off
the
May
attempt,
NASA
and
Boeing
found
a
“small”
helium
leak
in
Starliner,
causing
the
agency
and
company
to
perform
another
series
of
assessments.
After
analysis,
NASA
and
Boeing
believe
the
source
of
the
leak
is
in
the
spacecraft’s
helium
propulsion
system.
But

officials
said
last
week
that
the
leak
is
“stable”
and
“not
a
safety
of
flight
issue.”

Starliner’s
crew
debut
has
been
delayed by
years,
with
SpaceX’s
competing
Dragon
capsule
flying
astronauts
for
NASA
regularly
since
2020
under
the
agency’s
Commercial
Crew
program.
To
date, Boeing
has
eaten
$1.5
billion
in
costs due
to
Starliner
setbacks
and
nearly
$5
billion
of
NASA
development
funds.

The
spacecraft
was

once
seen
as
a
competitor
to
SpaceX’s
Dragon.
However,
various
setbacks
and
delays
have
steadily
slipped

Starliner
into
a
backup
position
for
NASA,
with

the
agency
taking
the
rare
step
of
reassigning
astronauts
off
the
first
Boeing
crew
flights
in
2021.
Boeing
is
under
contract
to
fly
six
operational
Starliner
missions
to
the
ISS.
Saturday’s
crew
flight
test
represents
the
final
major
step
before
receiving
NASA
certification
to
begin
regular
missions.

Butch
Wilmore
and
Suni
Williams
are
flying
on
Starliner,
with
the
former
serving
as
the
spacecraft’s
commander
and
the
latter
as
its
pilot.

Wilmore
joined
NASA
in
2000
and
has
flown
to
space
twice
previously
on
the
Space
Shuttle
and
Russia’s
Soyuz.
Before
NASA,
Wilmore
was
a
U.S.
Navy
pilot.

Williams
was
selected
by
NASA
in
1998
and
has
also
flown
to
space
twice
before,
on
the
Space
Shuttle
and
then
the
Soyuz.
Like
Wilmore,
Williams
was
a
Navy
pilot
before
joining
the
space
agency.

Starliner
launches
on
ULA’s
Atlas
V.
The
rocket
debuted
in
2002,
and
the
Starliner
crew
flight
test
represents
its
100th
launch.

The
capsule
is
built
to
carry
as
many
as
four
NASA
astronauts
per
flight
and
more
than
200
pounds
of
research
and
cargo.
The
spacecraft
lands
using
a
parachute
and
airbag
system.
Starliner
is
reusable,
and
each
capsule
is
designed
to
fly
as
many
as
10
missions.

Boeing’s
crew
flight
test
aims
to
certify
the
Starliner
system
as
capable
of
carrying
NASA
astronauts
to
and
from
the
ISS.

If
Starliner
launches
on
Saturday,
it
will
fly
in
space
for
about
25
hours
before
a
planned
docking
with
the
International
Space
Station
at
1:50
p.m.
on
Sunday.
The
astronauts
will
then
spend
about
a
week
on
the
ISS,
focused
on
testing
Starliner,
before
returning
to
Earth.

—

CNBC’s
Rebecca
Picciotto
contributed
to
this
report.