(Washington) Yet another postponement for the first crewed space flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft: takeoff is now scheduled for May 25, a few days later than planned, in order to “continue the evaluation” of a “small leak” on the spacecraft, NASA announced Friday.
The launch of this mission to the International Space Station (ISS), crucial for Boeing and awaited for years, was canceled at the last moment last week, while the two astronauts forming the crew were already installed on board.
The reason was then a problem identified with a valve of the rocket, which has since been resolved. But in the meantime, a “small helium leak” was detected on the ship’s service module itself, perched atop the rocket.
The takeoff was until now to be attempted again in Florida on Tuesday, May 21, but is now aimed at May 25 at the earliest, announced NASA, which ordered this vehicle from Boeing ten years ago to transport its astronauts to the ISS.
“This additional time allows teams to continue the evaluation” of the leak, NASA wrote in a press release.
The two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have meanwhile returned to Houston, Texas, where they are waiting.
This new postponement comes as the Starliner development program has been marked by a series of unpleasant surprises, leading to years of delay.
Boeing is playing big on this test mission, which should allow it to demonstrate that its ship is safe before starting regular missions to the ISS – four years behind SpaceX, which already serves as NASA’s space taxi.
The American space agency wants to have a second vehicle in order to better be able to manage possible emergency situations or problems on one of the capsules.