The first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, piloted by Indian-origin Sunita Williams to the International Space Station (ISS), is now being targeted for June 1, NASA announced on Thursday.
The US space agency said in a statement that mission managers are continuing to evaluate a path towards the launch of the Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station (ISS).
“The teams are now working towards a launch opportunity at 12:25 pm ET on Saturday, June 1, with additional opportunities on June 2, June 5, and June 6.”
Initially planned for May 7, Starliner’s first mission to space carrying humans was delayed due to a helium leak.
Starliner is designed to take Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and fellow astronaut Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore to ISS as part of a final test before NASA can certify it for routine missions.
Boeing’s Starliner will be catapulted into space on the Atlas 5 rocket of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The astronauts will remain docked at the orbiting laboratory for about two weeks to evaluate the new spacecraft and its systems before returning to Earth in the western United States.
“There has been a great deal of exceptional analysis and testing over the last two weeks by the joint NASA, Boeing, and ULA teams to replace the Centaur Self Regulating Valve and troubleshoot the Starliner Service Module helium manifold leak,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA Commercial Crew Program.
“It has been important that we take our time to understand all the complexities of each issue including the redundant capabilities of the Starliner propulsion system and any implications to our Interim Human Rating Certification,” he added.
Stich, in the statement, said that NASA will launch Butch and Suni on this test mission after the entire community has reviewed the teams’ progress and flight rationale at the upcoming Delta Agency Flight Test Readiness Review.
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Published: 23 May 2024, 07:00 PM IST