Boeing calls off astronaut launch due to valve problem with rocket

Boeing called off a test flight of its Starliner com‐ mercial spacecraft on Mon‐ day launch because of a valve problem on the rock‐ et.

The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into the Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the plan‐ ned liftoff.

A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen re‐ lief valve on the upper stage of the company's Atlas rock‐ et. There was no immediate word on when the team would try again to launch the test pilots to the Internation‐ al Space Station (ISS) for a week-long stay. It was the latest delay for Boeing's first crew flight, on hold for years because of capsule trouble.

"In a situation like this, if we see any data signature is not something that we have seen before, then we are just simply not willing to take any chances with what is our most precious payload," Rice said.

The final test of the crewed spacecraft - also re‐ ferred to as its Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST-100) - had been scheduled to lift off at 10:34 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rock‐ et.

It would have carried two astronauts - Butch Wilmore, the commander for the mis‐ sion, and Suni Williams, the pilot - to the space station.

"It almost feels unreal," Williams said in a questionand-answer session last week. That's because Boeing has faced years-long delays after getting the contract from NASA in 2014 to build a new space capsule.

Wilmore and Williams had been in their seats for about an hour when the launch was called off.

They were assisted out of the capsule by technicians and whisked away from the launch complex in a van to await a second flight attempt once the problem has been resolved.

Had they launched, the pair would have heard a Canadian voice from mission control communicating with them - astronaut Joshua Kutryk.

It's an important role for him: He's one of four crew members who are set to take the same spacecraft on its first operational mission about a year from now. It'll be a six-month journey to the ISS and back.

"Concurrent to my duties with [this launch], I've been training to get ready for that expedition for about a year now," he said.

And this isn't his first time in mission control at Capcom (a throwback term from NASA's earliest days that stands for capsule communi‐ cation).

He's been in the same po‐ sition for SpaceX launches, but in the case of SpaceX, the company controlled the spacecraft. In Boeing's case, control will be done from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"I think it's the first time that we're going to [once again] control … a crewed launch and re-entry from here in Houston since the space shuttle ended," Kutryk said. "So it's a big deal. There's a lot of excitement for NASA. And I just feel real‐ ly lucky and proud to be able to be a part of it."

History of delays

After NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011, the space agency had no other option but to use the Russian Soyuz rockets to get Ameri‐ can and Canadian astronauts into space.

Then, in 2014, NASA an‐ nounced that it had chosen two commercial companies to build spacecraft that would return launch capabili‐ ties to American soil: SpaceX and Boeing.

While SpaceX successfully began launching astronauts to the ISS in 2020, Boeing has yet to do so.

In order for NASA to ap‐ prove any new crew space‐ craft, SpaceX and Boeing had to each conduct two critical tests: the first, an uncrewed launch and docking with the ISS; the second, a crewed launch and docking.

SpaceX passed its two tests easily, launching its first operational mission in 2020. (It's important to note they had already had experience launching cargo capsules to the ISS on their Falcon 9 rocket, and the crewed cap‐ sule was quite similar to the Dragon cargo.)

However, Boeing's first uncrewed launch was unable to dock with the ISS. It launched again in 2022 and successfully docked.

No jitters

Asked if they were experienc‐ ing any jitters about the up‐ coming launch, Williams and Wilmore - both seasoned test pilots and astronauts who have each spent more than a year in space - said that they were feeling good.

"We've both been here before," said Williams. "I don't necessarily think it's jit‐ ters. I'm just thinking it's more like last-minute checks, crossing the T's and dotting the I's."

They - along with Kutryk have been working alongside Boeing during the develop‐ ment of Starliner. Wilmore said that for him, it's more about focusing on the proce‐ dures and preparation.

WATCH | More on the upcoming Starliner flight test:

While on board the cap‐ sule - named Calypso by Williams in honour of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau's vessel - the pair will be run‐ ning through several checks and procedures to ensure it is ready for regular launches to the ISS.

"Everything's not going to be absolutely perfect as we fly the spacecraft. And that's really what our goal is. We've gotten to a point … that we feel very safe and comfort‐ able how this spacecraft flies," Williams said.

"But we're going to find new things, and we're going to write those things down and we're going to relay all that and fix it for the next time the spacecraft flies."