The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner space taxi was postponed today due to concerns about a valve on the upper stage of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. It was the latest in a years-long string of delays for what’s expected to be a milestone mission for Boeing and commercial spaceflight.
Liftoff had been set for 10:34 p.m. ET (7:34 p.m. PT) today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. But launch managers called a hold with a little more than 2 hours left in the countdown, after NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams had already climbed into the capsule.
“The team has had some observations on an oxygen relief valve on our Centaur second stage, and the team is just not comfortable with the signatures that they’re seeing, the response out of that valve,” United Launch Alliance’s Dillon Rice said. “So, out of an abundance of caution, we are not going to continue with our launch operations today.”
The astronauts climbed out of the capsule and headed back to their quarters. Meanwhile, ULA engineers checked into the balky valve, which didn’t stay closed properly during preparations for launch and made a buzzing noise. The ULA team decided to replace the valve, which led mission managers to schedule the next launch attempt for no earlier than May 17.
