Boeing ’s Starliner spacecraft sit down atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V roquette on the launchpad of Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday , June 1 , 2024.NASA Television
The be after crew launch of the Boeing Starliner has once again been name off at the last second . The launching today was scrubbed at 3 minute of arc and 50 irregular before liftoff due to a trouble with the ground system . This is the second metre that the first crewed mission using the Starliner has been called off shortly before launch , with aprevious attempt on May 6scrubbed due to a dissimilar issue with the rocket .
Since the May scrub , further issues with the Starliner , including a helium leak , have come to light , lead to the plotted launching beingpushed backseveral times . However , these late issuance were not the cause of the chaparral today , say Steve Stich , manager of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , in a post - launch effort briefing .
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft sits atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the launchpad of Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, June 1, 2024.NASA Television
“ We obtain inside four minutes and then we had a problem with the ground launch sequencer , ” said Stich .
There were two incidents with the ground system , firstlwith a set of valve that did not open right . These are triple redundant , said Tony Bruno , president and CEO of United Launch Alliance , assuring that the crew were in no danger from the number . The second issue was with the flat coat launching organisation , which work to release the rocket as it lifts off . This is also triple redundant , requiring all three computer systems to be black market for a launch — and one of these system was stay in give the Oklahoma to a health check mark . That means the launch was automatically scrubbed .
“ What will happen next is to benefit physical access to that computer and determine why that occurred , ” Bruno tell , adding that it will have to wait until the rocket is defueled . The engineers should be able to expect at the payoff within the next few minute and , if the muddle is a simple one , then the launching could go ahead tomorrow . If it turns out to be more complicated , however , the launch could be delay even further . There are backup launching dates useable on Wednesday June 5 and Thursday June 6 , as well as the one tomorrow , Sunday June 2 .
The aim is for the Boeing Starliner to connect the SpaceX Dragon as an choice for transporting astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station and back . Since the shuttering of the Space Shuttle program NASA for age relied on Russian spacecraft for channel cosmonaut , until the SpaceX Dragon made its crewed trial trajectory in 2020 . Now , NASA wants to not be dependent on one single company for its transportation need .
“ We really would wish to have , and want , two redundant space transportation systems . It ’s really significant for us to have that , ” Stich said . He also emphasized that the launching today was very close-fitting to going off : “ The vehicles were quick , we were just unlucky to have a basis card job . “
