In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is seen in spotlights on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 in front of the Boeing NASA crew seen illuminated flight test May 4, 2024 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Joel Kowsky | NASA | Handout | Getty Images
Boeing and NASA are moving forward with the launch of the company’s Starliner capsule, set to carry U.S. astronauts for the first time, despite a “stable” leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system.
“We are pleased with the causes we have identified for this particular leak,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president and manager of the company’s commercial crew program, during a news conference Friday.
“We know we can do this [leak]“So this is really not an aviation safety issue,” Nappi added.
Boeing is now targeting June 1 for the first crewed launch of its spacecraft, with backup options on June 2, 5 and 6.
The mission, known as the Starliner Crew Flight Test, is intended to serve as the last major development test of the capsule by ferrying two NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station before routine missions.
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Starliner’s crew debut has been delayed for years because SpaceX’s competing Dragon capsule has regularly flown astronauts for NASA since 2020 as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew program. So far, Boeing has absorbed $1.5 billion in costs due to Starliner setbacks, in addition to nearly $5 billion in NASA development funds.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is seen before docking with the International Space Station on May 20, 2022, during the uncrewed OFT-2 mission.
Boeing
NASA and Boeing canceled a launch attempt on May 6 about two hours before launch because of a problem identified with the Atlas V rocket that will carry Starliner into orbit. Atlas V is built and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
During Friday’s press conference, a ULA official noted that the rocket’s problematic valve was replaced a week after the launch was postponed.
But after the launch attempt was aborted, a “small” helium leak was discovered in the Starliner, prompting Boeing and NASA to begin new assessments of the capsule and its safety for the mission. NASA Deputy Administrator Ken Bowersox, one of the agency’s most senior officials, told the press on Friday that “it took a while before we were ready to discuss the helium leak issue.”
“It is so complicated. So many things are happening. We just had to work through it as a team,” Bowersox said.
After analysis, NASA and Boeing believe the cause of the leak is a seal in one of the flanges of the spacecraft’s helium propulsion system. In testing after the postponement on May 6, Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said teams “saw that the leak rate did not change.”
Stich explained that the plan is to monitor the leak in advance of the launch and reassess the leak rate after reaching the International Space Station.
“We don’t expect anything else [seals] to trickle down, and I think that’s a confidence that we have,” Stich said.
Stich also emphasized that NASA has “flown vehicles with small helium leaks” before, including “a few cases” during missions with the Space Shuttle and SpaceX’s Dragon.
NASA, Boeing and ULA will conduct another review on May 29 to verify the leak. They plan to roll the rocket and capsule to the launch pad on May 30 for the June 1 attempt.
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2024-05-24 18:07:24
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