Less than a month ago, Starliner seemed like it was ready to go. With a launch date for the first crewed flight test set for May 6th, NASA officials expressed confidence that Starliner was “go for launch”. Following a Flight Readiness Review held just days before the May 6th launch date, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said he was satisfied that the Readiness Review was thorough, and that Starliner, Atlas V and ISS were prepared properly for the test flight.
Ok, we get it. Things happen. Despite the publicly advertised confidence in the readiness of Starliner, a faulty valve in the Atlas/Centaur second stage caused the launch to be delayed for several days. After two days of evaluating the problem at the pad, the decision was made to roll the vehicle back to the ULA Vertical Integration Facility on May 8th to replace the valve. The valve was successfully replaced on May 11th, but launch teams discovered another problem with a helium leak in the spacecraft’s thruster system. Billing the leak as “minor” officials said the leak alone would not have been enough to scrub the launch, but they were going to take the time to fix it.
Meanwhile, the president of Starliner subcontractor Valvetech Inc, raised eyebrows when she publically questioned the safety of the valves used in the spacecraft.
Since then, it has become obvious that the launch of Starliner has been plagued by problems that would appear to far more serious than those disclosed by Boeing, ULA, and NASA. A series of launch dates have come and gone, with officials releasing only generic statements such as May 17th’s statement. In that statement, officials said the launch had been pushed to May 25th “to allow additional time for comprehensive spacecraft closeout processes and “flight rationale assessments.”
Long after rumors of yet another delay of May 25th’s launch date began circulating on the internet, NASA finally released a cryptic statement to the media late last night.
NASA, Boeing, and ULA are foregoing the Saturday, May 25 launch attempt for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The team has been in meetings for two consecutive days, assessing flight rationale, system performance, and redundancy. There is still forward work in these areas, and the next possible launch opportunity is still being discussed.
NASA will share more details once we have a clearer path forward.
NASA Media Statement
With last night’s announcement that May 25th is off the table, there is no new date in sight, and no real explanation of what the problem is, we’re all left to wonder “Exactly what is the problem with Starliner? Whatever it is, it is clearly more serious than a valve replacement and a minor helium leak.
