Boeing’s Starliner crewed mission to ISS delayed, rescheduled for this month

The inaugural manned mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) has encountered another postponement. Initially scheduled for mid-April, the Crew Flight Test (CFT) is now expected to take place in early May, due to conflicts with the space station’s schedule. This announcement was made by NASA and Boeing on March 8.

The mission involves sending NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS aboard the Starliner, which will be launched using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission duration is planned to be around 10 days.

Starliner’s progress has been under scrutiny, following a series of delays since the program’s inception in September 2014 under a contract with NASA worth billions. Challenges such as parachute suspension line issues and the use of flammable tape around the capsule’s wiring have been significant contributors to these delays.

The crewed flight test aims to thoroughly evaluate Starliner’s full operational capabilities, from launch and docking to its return to Earth. This mission is particularly significant as it follows two prior uncrewed test flights. The second of these flights, conducted in May 2022, successfully docked with the ISS, overcoming the setbacks faced during the initial test flight in December 2019.

Originally, NASA and Boeing aimed for a late April launch for the CFT. The two uncrewed flights, especially the Orbital Flight Test-2 which achieved docking in May, have provided essential feedback for the upcoming mission.

NASA has indicated that, to safeguard against unexpected issues with crew transportation to the ISS, it may consider extending the CFT’s stay at the space station to up to six months and potentially adding another astronaut to the mission if necessary.